Double Standard
by Kathy Rose
Summary: Malcolm Reed of the Mirror Universe is pulled aboard the Enterprise. Of course he doesn't behave.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: So I've been busy with other projects lately and haven't written much for here. I started this in between some of my writing for VS6.

* * *

The transporter readings kept fluctuating. No matter how Malcolm tried to refine the signal, it wouldn't fully lock on to the test object. He was glad he was alone in the transporter alcove. It wouldn't do to have any of the crew see how frustrated this was making him. He was about ready to kick the console. It wouldn't help the transporter, but it would make him feel better.

"I'm going to adjust the shield harmonics again," he said loudly enough for the open comm channel to pick up.

"Yeah, something's not working right," came Trip's reply over the comm. "Every time the beam density changes, the power consumption jumps like crazy."

Malcolm allowed himself a half smile as he shut down the transporter. "Are you sure it's not something on your end?"

"Oh, for pity sake, Malcolm!" Trip said. "It was your idea to try putting an EM barrier field with a transporter beam and see what you'd get. All I'm doing is making sure you got the power to do it. I'm sure once you get the fine-tuning taken care of, it'll work just fine."

Malcolm raised an eyebrow as he manipulated some of the controls. It was nice to know the chief engineer thought his idea would work. A force field around a transporter signal would -- theoretically -- insure that matter in the stream wouldn't dissipate if it encountered an unexpected obstruction. Even better, nothing else could break into the stream and disrupt its integrity. At the moment, they were testing the concept on empty cargo containers which they'd transported out into space. If it worked, Malcolm could envision his refinement to the system being a boon to transporting people on a daily basis. The crew had gotten to the point where they used the transporter to send and retrieve people as well as things without too much worry, but there were still risks involved, and it wasn't a common practice, even on _Enterprise_.

"All right," he said, entering one last command, "I'm ready to try it again." He keyed in the sequence to start the process. He watched in satisfaction as the readings held steady and the indicator lit that meant the beam had locked on to the object to be brought on board. This time it might just work.

A sudden spike in the energy flow coincided with an exclamation over the open comm link. "Something's wrong!" Trip said. "It's drawing more power than it should!"

Malcolm's gaze darted across the indicators. Everything seemed to be fine except the mass of the object in transit. They'd used an empty cargo container about the size of a suitcase, but the reading was showing something bigger.

"I think we picked up something along with our target," Malcolm said, shifting his gaze to the platform where the first outline of the object was beginning to form.

"What?" asked Trip. "There shouldn't have been any debris floating around out there. We made sure the area was clear."

Malcolm, watching the platform as the sparkling effect of the transporter beam solidified, didn't respond. He could detect the shape of the cargo container, but there was something else there, too. If he didn't know better, he'd swear they'd just transported a person on board. But that couldn't be. No one could survive in the vacuum of space without proper gear.

His jaw dropped as, contrary to what he knew was impossible, a person took form on the platform. It was a man dressed in some sort of camoflauge clothing and holding a rifle. Malcolm was leaning toward the comm, intent on calling for security backup, when the transport process finished and he got a good look at the man's face. He froze in disbelief.

The man on the platform aimed the rifle at him and fired.

* * *

Major Malcolm Reed lowered his rifle. Bloody hell! What had gotten bulloxed up this time? This place didn't look like the ISS _Enterprise_ transporter room. He never had trusted that sorry excuse of an engineer, no matter what Archer thought of him, and look what Tucker had done now.

Stepping down from the platform, he wondered if this was another of the captain's tests. He wouldn't put it past the man. Always pushing the crew, seeing who could handle the pressure and who would break. He would have thought that by now Archer would know he wasn't the breaking type. There's was nothing to do but go along with this stupid little charade and show his captain he could take it.

It was a nice touch to have the transporter operator look like him, he had to admit. He'd almost hesitated as he'd marveled at the resemblance. He didn't bother to go over to where the doppleganger had fallen after being shot and turn him on his back to look at his face. That would only eat up precious seconds he could use to prepare for whatever was coming next. The captain's tests rarely included only one challenge.

Holding the rifle in a ready position, he glanced around the area. He noted differences, including the fact that he'd never seen a uniform like the one the transporter operator was wearing. The color scheme in the room was slightly lighter. And the area wasn't secure -- the door had been removed and some sort of archway had been installed. He could see right out into the corridor.

Of course, they wouldn't have been able to make too many changes in the two hours he'd been on the planet, but it was enough to tell him that, indeed, this was a test. There was too great a chance that if he wasn't aware it was a test of his abilities and not a real threat, he might go so far as to permanently take down anyone pitted against him -- including the captain. The thought brought a smirk to his face. Wouldn't it serve the sadistic bastard right if one of his little tests backfired on him?

He checked the transporter controls. If the information on the main panel's screen was correct, he appeared to be where he was supposed to be. He shook his head. It was a little much to expect they'd actually set up an entire new location for an exercise like this. More likely it was a redressing of the existing transporter room.

His head jerked toward the comm panel as a familiar yet despised voice called his name.

"Malcolm? What's goin' on in there? Malcolm, you okay?"

That was just too much. Archer must have put that arrogant bastard up to acting like he was actually concerned about his welfare. As he lifted the rifle, Reed smirked again. He'd much rather be doing this to Tucker in person, but he'd take what satisfaction he could get.

His finger squeezed the trigger, sending a lance of energy into the comm panel. He was admiring the sparks and crackles of his handiwork when he was struck squarely in the back by another lance of phased energy.

* * *

Captain Jonathan Archer was standing between the ends of two biobeds. He'd look at the unconscious occupant in the bed to his right, then shift his gaze to the one on the left. Invariably, after a few moments, his focus would go back to the first bed. How long he would have stood there doing that if Doctor Phlox hadn't said something, he didn't know.

"Uncanny how much they resemble each other," Phlox remarked.

"I can't tell _any _difference, other than..." Jon's voice trailed off as he gestured toward the man's head.

"Ah, yes," Phlox said. "Well, in addition to the different hair style, he also has a small scar above his lip on the left side. Lieutenant Reed doesn't."

As Phlox puttered around checking his patients' vital signs, Jon resumed his inspection of their unexpected visitor. He was wearing some sort of military uniform similar to what the MACOs wore. What wasn't camoflauge was dark-colored, with plenty of loops on the belt for weapons and tools. In addition to some insignia, the significance of which Jon didn't understand, there was a stenciled name on one shoulder. Right name, wrong rank, and definitely the wrong service branch, he mused.

Until the man who looked like Malcolm Reed woke up, they wouldn't get any answers. As far as Jon was concerned, their unexpected visitor was an intruder and would be treated as such. He'd instructed Phlox to utilize the biobed's restraints. It was a wise precaution considering security had taken a small arsenal of weapons off the man after stunning him in the transporter alcove.

The occupant of the second bed stirred. "Sir?"

Jon took a step closer to his groggy tactical officer and put a reassuring smile on his face. "Malcolm," he said. "What did you do to the transporter?"

"Sir?"

Jon took in Malcolm's confused expression and dropped his attempt at humor. "Never mind," he said. "What happened?"

"I could have sworn--" Malcolm's voice broke off as, glancing around sickbay, his gaze found the man on the other biobed. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, but closed his eyes and gripped the edge of the bed so tightly that his knuckles went white. Jon put out a hand to steady him.

Malcolm drew a deep breath and opened his eyes. His gaze on the other man, he said, "The transporter _did _pull him in. I thought I'd imagined it. How is that possible?"

"Trip and T'Pol are going over the transporter logs and other data," Jon told him. "Maybe they'll find something."

Malcolm shook his head, and Jon realized Malcolm was having trouble taking his eyes off his likeness. "I don't know what happened, sir. All I do know is that he" -- Malcolm nodded toward the other man -- "wasn't in the target area when the transporter locked on to the cargo container. It wasn't until Trip reported a jump in power consumption that additional mass registered in the stream."

"I'll pass that information along to Trip and T'Pol," Jon said.

At last tearing his gaze away to look at Jon, Malcolm said, "I should be helping them." He made to slip off the bed, but was stopped by Phlox, who had been prepared for this contingency.

"No, you don't, Lieutenant," the doctor ordered as he bustled up and forced Malcolm to remain on the bed. "You've been stunned by a phase rifle and I need to make sure there are no residual effects before you can leave sickbay.

"But--"

"Besides, I need you here as a baseline to run comparisons with him," Phlox insisted with a wave of his hand in the direction of the other biobed.

Malcolm frowned, not understanding what Phlox was getting at. "He's just surgically altered to look like me, isn't he? I mean, it's got to be some kind of sabotage attempt."

Jon arched an eyebrow at Malcolm's comment. The thought that the look-alike was here to cause trouble had crossed his mind. He was only surprised it had taken Malcolm more than a minute after regaining consciousness to voice that suspicion.

"I don't know about that, Lieutenant," Phlox said, moving over to the still unconscious man and preparing to draw a blood sample, "but initial tests I ran indicate that, except for a few exterior -- one might say cosmetic -- differences, you and this man are the same person."


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you, everyone, for the kind reviews. I'm glad to hear you like the premise of this story.

CHAPTER TWO

Malcolm was beginning to wonder if the man would ever wake up. From what he'd been told, they'd been shot within minutes of each other, but he'd been fully conscious now for an hour. Phlox did say that the other man had been hit by multiple shots, however, which might account for the other's longer period of unconciousness. According to the captain, Trip had sent a security team to the transporter alcove as soon as he had heard the sound of weapon fire over the comm. When members of his security staff had shown up and had seen him incapacitated on the deck and an intruder blasting away at the comm panel, they had been somewhat overzealous in their reaction.

Shifting a bit -- biobeds weren't the most comfortable things to sit on with your legs dangling over the side for any length of time -- Malcolm stared at the man. It would be hard to tell the difference between them if it weren't for their different clothing. If all the grease was washed out of the other's hair and the faint scar above the upper lip was removed, his own mother probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

As he kept watch, his mind kept turning over the puzzle of this person. How had this man come to be caught in the transporter signal? Even more curious was why the man looked like him. If Phlox's supposition was correct, it wasn't someone altered to look like him but rather something along the lines of a clone. But if that was the case, why would he be dressed differently? That would negate any advantage in sneaking someone on board who looked like a member of the crew.

Not that the man had snuck aboard exactly, but Malcolm's strongest inclination was that it was an attempt to harm _Enterprise_, or perhaps a covert operation aimed at gaining information. The fact that they'd pulled him in with the transporter had to mean something had gone wrong with whatever the plan had been. But where had he come from? A cloaked ship?

Malcolm at last gave in to his curiosity. He slipped off his perch and stepped over to the other bed to gaze more closely at the other man's face, and a shiver ran down Malcolm's spine. It was like looking in a mirror.

The other man's clothing appeared to be a uniform. There were a few insignia on the dark outfit. Malcolm walked around the bed to the opposite side, where a patch on the man's sleeve drew his attention. It showed a grinning skull under the acronym MACO. The ship designation under the emblem was _ISS Enterprise_. If this was an effort to get a spy on board, Malcolm thought, whoever was responsible hadn't done their homework very well. The MACOs on this ship used a shark as their logo, and as far as he knew, _Enterprise _had no other designation except NX-01.

His eyes opened wider as he saw what was stenciled below the patch: Major M. Reed. This man was impersonating the head of a MACO unit.

Hayes ought to be rolling over in his grave about now, Malcolm thought with a slight smile. He and the major had been involved in a power struggle most of the time _Enterprise _had been in the Delphic Expanse. Each of them had tried to assert control over the other's area of responsibilities, culminating in a fight that had gotten them both chewed out by the captain. They'd finally gotten things sorted out. Shortly thereafter, however, the major had been killed in the line of duty.

"I don't find it funny that I'm lying here trussed up like a Christmas goose," said the man on the bed.

Malcolm sucked in his breath as his gaze darted back to the other man's face. While he'd been lost in memories of the past, the man on the bed had woken up and was staring at him with icy gray-blue eyes. And when he'd spoken, it had been with a British accent, further convincing Malcolm this man was involved in a scheme to use his appearance for no good.

"Who are you?" Malcolm asked.

The smirk on the other's face grew bigger. "Don't you know?"

Malcolm tried another tack. "Why are you here?"

"I don't answer to you, you stupid git."

Malcolm quirked an eyebrow at that. The man had a lot of gall. He was restrained by straps on the bed, but was acting as if he had the upper hand. The other man watched closely as Malcolm walked back over to his bed and sat down.

Phlox, a medical scanner in one hand and several data disks in the other, came over then. "Finally awake, are we?"

Malcolm watched, fascinated, as the other man's features twisted into a snarl.

"Stay away from me, you butcher!" the man spat out.

"Oh, my!" Phlox appeared to be at a loss at the man's behavior, but in his typical fashion, he wasn't stymied for long. "Not quite the reaction I was expecting, but understandable, I suppose."

As the man watched warily, Phlox ran the med scanner over him. "Hmmm. Just as I'd thought."

"Doctor?" Malcolm asked.

Phlox looked at the readout on the scanner for a few more moments before snapping it shut and turning toward _Enterprise's _tactical officer. "He's you."

"What?" said Malcolm and the other man in unison.

Malcolm shot a quick look at his double, surprised that he'd said the same thing at the exact same moment, then turned back to Phlox. "What are you talking about?"

Phlox stepped over to a monitor on a nearby countertop and inserted one of the data disks. The screen lit up to show two sets of ragged lines. "The top brainwave pattern is yours; the bottom is his. You'll notice there are variations, but very slight. The variations could be caused by different stimulation to the brain as growth occurred as well as different learning experiences throughout life." Phlox pushed another button and another set of graphics appeared. "But the clincher is this -- your DNA."

Malcolm peered at the two sets of winding, ladder-like DNA strands. "I don't see any difference."

"Exactly," Phlox said. "They are identical."

Both Malcolm and Phlox turned to gaze at the man on the bed, who was staring back intently.

"How is that possible?" Malcolm asked, more to himself than Phlox.

The man on the bed suddenly spoke up. "You can tell the captain that this farce has gone on long enough. He's won this time. I concede. Now get these straps off me!" He gave a tug against the wrist straps to emphasize his point.

Phlox scratched his chin, considering the man on the biobed even as he ignored the outburst. "I don't believe he's a clone," he said to Malcolm. "I've found no evidence of such in the preliminary testing I've done."

Malcolm knew Phlox had a better understanding of genetics than the average Starfleet medical officer. Scientists on his planet had long ago dabbled in genetic engineering, but had given it up for moral considerations. He'd take Phlox's word that the man wasn't a clone.

"I swear I'll have both of you thrown in the agony booth if you don't turn me loose now," the man on the bed yelled.

Continuing as if the other man hadn't spoken, Malcolm asked Phlox, "So if he's not a clone, what is he?"

"Quit acting like I'm not here!" shouted the man.

Malcolm at last focused on the man, giving him a hard stare. "Only if you answer my questions," he said. "What is your name?"

The other man clenched his jaw and stared back just as determinedly. When Malcolm didn't back down, he seemed to give in. "Malcolm Reed," he said grudgingly.

* * *

Trip took a break to grab a bite to eat before he was to join T'Pol in the command center. While he would have preferred to remain in Engineering to go over what had happened with the transporter, the command center had a wider array of tie-ins to systems throughout the ship as well as access to all the short- and long-range scanners. 

The mess hall was nearly empty when he entered. He thought he might have to eat alone, but after he picked out a roast beef sandwich and some chips, he spied Hoshi sitting by herself near one of the windows. As he approached, she perked up, an inquisitive expression on her face.

"Is it true?" she asked even before he sat down. "The person who got transported on board looks just like Malcolm?"

"My gosh, woman!" he said. "Is there anything on this ship you don't know about?"

Hoshi made show of thinking about that. "Not really," she said after a few moments. "Besides, I heard Foster when he comm'd the captain on the bridge after the shoot-out."

Trip almost choked on a bite of his sandwich as he tried not to laugh. "Shoot-out?"

Hoshi nodded as she grinned. "That's what Foster called it. He's been reading Westerns lately." She lowered her voice. "Although it wasn't much of a shoot-out. That guy shot Malcolm, then took out the comm panel -- which I'm going to have to fix, by the way -- and then he got shot in the back when Foster 'got the drop' on him."

Trip snorted. An armed intruder had come aboard and started shooting things. He didn't care how the man got taken down, just so long as he was before he did more than damage a comm panel. Thank God Malcolm hadn't been seriously hurt in the process. Trip was able to eat a few bites of his sandwich before Hoshi started with the questions again.

"So where did this guy who looks like Malcolm come from?" she asked.

Trip took a sip of coffee to wash down his food and said, "Don't know. That's what T'Pol and I are hoping to figure out."

"Maybe I'll take a stroll by sickbay and see if this person really is that close of a match for Malcolm," she said.

Trip grinned. "Malcolm probably could use the company," he said. "I heard from the captain that Phlox won't release him."

"He's all right, isn't he?" Hoshi asked in sudden alarm. "I mean, it's not like he hasn't been shot before. When I'd heard he'd been shot, I just assumed he was stunned--"

"Yeah, he's okay," Trip said before she could work herself up to a full-fledged panic. He grinned as he realized how frustrated Malcolm must be by now. "But you know how much he likes being cooped up in sickbay."

* * *

Malcolm was getting a few answers out of his counterpart, but he wasn't sure what to make of them. For one thing, the other Reed had told him ISS stood for Imperial Star Ship. Imperial -- as in an empire. He had also said he was in charge of security aboard the ISS _Enterprise_, which matched with Malcolm's duties. But while Malcolm was nominally in charge of the MACOs, he didn't belong to that military service branch as this Reed claimed. 

Most peculiar was that this Reed seemed to think he had been in the process of returning to his own ship when he'd wound up here. Malcolm got the impression Reed thought this was a hoax, or maybe a test of some sort. The man vehemently denied any attempt at sabotage or spying.

In return for the man's cooperation, Malcolm offered a few tidbits of information of his own to see what Reed's reaction would be. Reed didn't seem surprised when informed Captain Archer was in command of _Enterprise_, but had seemed leery of the doctor. It was almost like he was expecting Phlox to harm him in some way.

A particularly loud squawk from one of Phlox's creatures caught Reed's attention. "He must be getting ready for more experiments," Reed said with disdain.

"What are you talking about?" Malcolm asked.

"That sorry excuse for a doctor is always experimenting on something -- animals, Tellurites, Andorians, even the occasional Vulcan. I knew it was only a matter of time before he started in on humans." Reed snarled, pulling against the restraints. "What have I done to displease the captain?"

As he watched the other man struggle, Malcolm was beginning to wonder if there was some reason other than the obvious for his presence. But if it wasn't the result of a botched covert operation, why was he here?

The sickbay doors slid open, and both men turned their heads in that direction. Malcolm's eyes lit up at the sight of Hoshi walking in. He'd wondered when she'd get around to visiting. She always did when he was stuck in sickbay.

A sharp intake of breath from the other man made Malcolm look back at him. He was startled by the open lust he saw on Reed's face. Hoshi was aware of it, too, Malcolm realized, for she stopped several feet away, as if afraid to come any closer.

"Hoshi?" Malcolm asked.

He saw her shake herself before breaking eye contact with Reed to look at him. "Um, I just came by to see how you were doing, and if..." Her gaze went back to the other man and she took a few steps to come stand by the tactical officer where he sat on a biobed.

Reed spoke before Malcolm could. "Yes, I do look like him."

Hoshi's eyes widened. "You sound just like him, too."

Malcolm felt his temper start to rise when he saw Reed's gaze insolently rake up and down Hoshi's body. The man was physically restrained, but the sexuality he was projecting was unmistakable. That Hoshi was aware of it was undeniable -- a blush was staining her cheeks, although there was an amused glint in her eyes. At least Malcolm thought it was amusement.

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend here to take these straps off," Reed purred.

"He's not my boyfriend," Hoshi replied before turning her incredulous stare on Malcolm. "He may look like you, but he definitely doesn't act like you."

Malcolm opened his mouth to speak but Reed beat him to it again. "Oh, that's right. He couldn't be your boyfriend. You're the captain's woman," he said.

"Captain's woman?" she said with a frown. "If that's what I think it is, I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted."

Malcolm prudently kept his mouth shut. He was learning more about their unexpected guest by watching the byplay going on in front of him. Hoshi didn't realize that she was providing the perfect distraction to get Reed to let something slip.

"If you're not with the captain, may I assume you are...available?" Reed asked suggestively.

Hoshi snorted delicately and looked pointedly at the straps holding Reed on the bed. "I don't think you're in any position to be asking."

"I can offer you almost as many perks as the captain," Reed said. "Probably even some he doesn't have. Just get rid of your friend here and let me free from this infernal bed."

Hoshi turned to look at Malcolm. "Did Phlox give him something to make him act like this?"

Malcolm shook his head and took her by the arm as he hopped off his bed. Leading her away, he said quietly, "I don't know what he is or why he's here. And as far as I know, I don't have a twin."

"You sure you're all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said. He cast a quick glance back at Reed, who was still watching them. "I appreciate you coming to see me, Hoshi, but it would probably be best if you left."

Following his gaze, she said, "He was just flirting with me."

Malcolm turned her around to face sickbay's exit. "Hoshi, I'm serious. He's not flirting. I think he's deadly serious about what he'd like from you."

Hoshi gave him a look that said she didn't believe him, but she nodded and headed for the door. Malcolm turned his attention back to the man on the bed, who was watching Hoshi leave. Malcolm was very fond of Hoshi, and had often thought there could be more to their relationship than friendship if only he would allow himself to try, but he'd never considered expressing his desire in such a crude, forward manner as the man strapped to the bed had. A lifetime of civilized social behavior, along with rigid military protocol, had kept such impulses in check.

The man who looked like him apparently had no such restrictions.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Thanks again for the reviews. They're much appreciated, and help keep my muse happy and writing! Hope this chapter keeps you entertained.

CHAPTER 3

T'Pol had gone over all the reports on the incident with the transporter. She was no closer to an explanation than before she'd started analyzing the data. But then she'd listened to the conversation between Lieutenant Reed and their visitor in sickbay. The tactical officer had recorded it, undoubtedly without the other's knowledge it was being done.

Similar but not the same. The contradiction puzzled T'Pol. If Doctor Phlox's assertion was to be believed, the man in sickbay was a perfect duplicate of Lieutenant Reed. More than a duplicate, really. All the tests that Phlox had performed indicated the man who had appeared on the transporter pad was Lieutenant Reed. Yet there already was a Lieutenant Reed who had served on _Enterprise _for five years.

That wasn't to say there weren't differences. Those could be explained by the effect of varied environments to which the two men had been exposed, or experiences one had had and the other hadn't. The disparity in their personalities could be explained in that context as well. That was often the case as identical twins aged, particularly if they spent significant amounts of time apart.

Based on that, along with the conversation in sickbay between the two men, T'Pol was considering a theory. It was a theory scientists had debated for centuries and, as was the case when sufficient proof is lacking, had never been resolved.

She would need more information before she could present her findings to the captain, however. She called up the transporter power usage readings again and went to work.

* * *

Reed was biding his time. There was nothing else he could do. He was still strapped to the biobed after having been questioned by that person who looked like him. He sneered derisively as he recalled the questioning. The person who looked like him wasn't like him at all. Too soft, for one thing. Reed had easily been able to resist what had been a very ineffective interrogation. The only thing the questioning had done was make him angry. 

And make him think.

It would be one thing for Archer to have found a double of him or have someone surgically altered to enact a test. It was another to find others who looked like Phlox and Sato. If this truly was a test, the latter two would have to have been play-acting.

What had convinced him that this set-up wasn't what he'd first assumed it to be, however, was his observation of the communications officer. She seemed genuinely concerned about his counterpart and, to a lesser extent, himself. Not once had he known Sato to visit to anyone in sickbay. She despised anyone who couldn't advance her position, but this person purporting to be Hoshi Sato was visiting the other Malcolm Reed simply to "see how he was doing," even though she claimed he had no hold on her. This Hoshi Sato also projected a sense of quiet competence, not to mention an innocence and purity that was novel, that was totally lacking in the Sato he knew.

But that horrid uniform she was wearing! It was just like his double's blue jumpsuit, except for the color of a stripe across the shoulders. The Sato he worked with wouldn't be caught dead in something like that, even if put up to it by Archer.

At least the person who claimed to be Malcolm Reed had finally left him in peace. Reed smirked as he closed his eyes, shutting out the view of the armed security guard standing several meters away. When that other Malcolm Reed had been given permission to leave sickbay, he'd arranged for the guard to be present. Maybe they had more in common than he'd realized. Even tied up, he wouldn't trust himself alone, either.

He grunted as he gave another useless pull on his wrist restraints and wondered if this really wasn't his _Enterprise_. Maybe he was suffering some sort of delusion connected to the transporter. He used the transporter frequently and generally without a second thought, since its tactical advantage outweighed the danger involved with it, but the device was still relatively new, and problems would crop up at times.

Major Malcolm Reed, MACO commander and chief of security for the _ISS Enterprise_, came to the conclusion he was either hallucinating, or he really was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

* * *

Jon entered sickbay with T'Pol and Malcolm on his heels. He wasn't sure what to make of his science officer's theory, but the fact that she believed it possible -- and Vulcans weren't the easiest people to convince of anything unless the proof was staring them in the face -- went a long way toward convincing him that their unexpected visitor was from another universe. 

He walked over to where the man was lying on the biobed. He glanced at the guard, then at Malcolm. "I don't think it's necessary to keep him restrained, do you?" Jon said, making it more an order than a question.

Malcolm shrugged. Jon knew Malcolm didn't like to take chances, but this was a bit extreme even for him. Maybe it was the resemblance that was making Malcolm overly cautious. With a tilt of his head, Jon indicated Malcolm should undo the restraints. He watched the duplicate Reed's face as Malcolm went about it, and was again struck by the incredible similarity to his tactical officer. If this man were ever to wear a Starfleet uniform, it would be impossible to tell them apart.

When the restraints were off, the man rubbed his wrists, then slowly rose to a sitting position, sliding his legs over the side of the bed. His graceful, sinuous movements reminded Jon of a cat. The man had an aura about him that made Jon think this Reed wouldn't mind playing with his prey before killing it.

"Well?" the man asked as the three _Enterprise _officers stared at him. "To what do I owe the privilege of a visit from the captain and his pet Vulcan?"

Jon scowled. He could feel Malcolm bristle next to him. Malcolm had been right. The man was an obnoxious bastard.

"I'm Captain Archer," he said. Indicating T'Pol, he added, "This is Commander T'Pol. You will treat her with the respect due an officer of her standing. You should be grateful she's a member of this crew. She's figured out how you got here."

That seemed to give the other man pause. The sardonic expression on his face was replaced by a thoughtful one. "Then I'm not on my _Enterprise_," he said, nodding as if confirming something.

T'Pol took a step forward. "We believe you are from another universe," she said. "For lack of a better description -- a parallel universe. While the two universes are fundamentally similar, there are differences."

"The physical laws of science would be the same," Reed said, "but because of different outcomes of historical events, or even seemingly unimportant incidents, the two universes diverge."

Both of T'Pol's eyebrows arched high in surprise. "You are acquainted with this theory?" she asked.

"Scientists in the Terran Empire have long believed in the existence of parallel universes," Reed said and crossed his arms over his chest. "They just haven't been able to find a way to access them. But when they do..." A smirk crossed his face.

Jon felt as if the meeting was slipping away from his control. He'd thought Reed would be surprised or even disbelieving, but to find him calmly discussing the possibilities of parallel universes was totally unexpected. "We're trying to find a way to send you back," he said. "The key to it is the transporter."

"I was in transit when this happened, so yes, that would be the best place to begin," Reed said sarcastically.

"Mind your tone with the captain," Malcolm hissed.

The other smiled. "He's your captain, not mine."

This man's attitude wasn't sitting well with Jon. He decided enough was enough. "You're on my ship," Jon said in his strictest command tone. "You will be released from sickbay and assigned quarters."

Reed got to his feet. "Am I restricted to quarters?"

"No," Jon said, "but you will be accompanied by an escort at all times when you are out of your cabin. You may visit the mess hall, sickbay, and any other place that isn't off limits to unauthorized personnel." Feeling a need to assert his authority, Jon took a step closer to the man who, he noted, didn't appear to be intimidated. Looking down at him from his greater height, Jon said, "So far, you've given me no reason not to trust you, other than shooting my tactical officer as soon as you materialized on the transporter pad. Contrary to what Lieutenant Reed thinks, I believe that's an understandable reaction on the part of anyone who is a security officer. Step out of line, however, and you'll find yourself residing in the brig until we can figure out how to send you back. Is that understood?"

Reed locked eyes with him for several seconds. "Aye...sir," he said at last.

"Good," Jon said, and turned and left sickbay, hoping he just hadn't made a big mistake.

* * *

Malcolm wasn't happy. He hadn't been happy since that person who looked like him had come on board and stunned him. Not only had the captain ordered him released from the restraints, but Reed now had what amounted to free run of the ship. A detail of two armed MACOs would follow the other Reed wherever he went, but Malcolm was still edgy about it. 

To top it all off, further tests on the shield-enhanced transporter were on hold until such time as T'Pol and Trip figured out what had happened and how to return Reed to his universe. Not that Malcolm could find fault with waiting. If the shield enhancement was the reason Reed had been brought here and they tried it again, who knew what -- or who -- they might inadvertently pull in next. It was just his bad luck that the person who had shown up on the transporter platform was him from a different universe.

Malcolm was so preoccupied that he couldn't concentrate on his duties. He considered taking over as escort for their guest, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Not only would he be in close proximity to his double -- and there was something about the other man's manner that grated on him -- but it would look like he didn't trust the MACOs to perform such a rudimentary assignment.

At least the captain had listened to him and had agreed to post security outside Reed's cabin. Somehow Malcolm didn't believe the man would call for an escort whenever he ventured out, and the thought of someone who had even a fraction of his own skills roaming a ship where he didn't belong made him nervous.

In frustrated disgust, Malcolm tossed aside the tool he was using to recalibrate the targeting scanners in the armory. He might as well get something to eat. Not that he was hungry, but at least it would give him something to do that didn't require much concentration. A short break might even help him regain his focus.

He went to the mess hall where the lunch rush was in full swing. Normally he'd prefer to eat by himself when he was in a mood like this, but Trip, Hoshi and Travis were sitting together and looking in his direction. He sighed, grabbed a plate of shepherd's pie and a cup of tea, and made his way over to them. If he didn't, one or another or possibly all of them would start yelling to get his attention. He'd rather avoid that embarrassment.

Malcolm took the last seat at the table and immediately asked Trip, "Any progress on sending him back?"

"Geez, Malcolm! T'Pol and I've only been working on it for half a day," Trip said. "You that anxious to get rid of him?"

"Yes," he said shortly and began eating.

There was silence as the others traded glances. Hoshi took a deep breath and said carefully, "It must be uncomfortable being around someone who looks like you and that you didn't even know existed twenty-four hours ago."

Malcolm, his mouth full, grunted in response. Uncomfortable didn't begin to describe it, but he wasn't going to open up in front of them. It was bad enough that he'd insisted Hoshi leave sickbay the day before. She must have realized how much the other Reed's presence disturbed him.

"I mean," she continued, undeterred by his lack of a response, "he may look like you, but he's nothing like you. Right?"

Malcolm fixed her with a glare, silently warning her to drop it. Unfortunately, the glare did nothing to stop Travis from jumping into the conversation. "Well, he looks like Malcolm," Travis said. "They could be Geminis."

"What are you talking about, Travis?" Trip asked.

"Gemini. You know. The zodiac."

"You don't believe in that stuff, do you?' Trip asked.

"No," Travis said. "But you'd be surprised what Boomer kids learn simply to keep themselves amused. Gemini the twins, the third sign of the zodiac."

Hoshi waved her spoon to get their attention. "But Malcolm's not a Gemini," she said. "His birthday is September second, and that's Virgo."

The corners of Trip's mouth turned up. "The virgin?"

"Hey!" Malcolm said. He put down his fork to stare indignantly at Trip.

"I didn't say you were one," Trip said, "just that it's your zodiac sign."

Travis leaned forward. "Actually, it fits." When Malcolm turned to glare at him, the helmsman hastily added, "I mean some of the attributes -- not the virgin part. Not that I'd know about that." Laughter from Trip and Hoshi interrupted Travis, but he continued on determinedly. "What I mean is that Virgos are supposed to be practical and discriminating. They like to preserve things and be of service, and they have the ability to save the day."

"You're making this up," Malcolm accused him.

"No. Really. I'm not," Travis said. "Makes me wonder, though. Do you know the other guy's birthday?"

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "I'd assume it's the same as mine, if all this falderol about his being from a parallel universe is true," he said, "but if it isn't, I know exactly what his zodiac sign is. It's Taurus, the bull, because as far as I can tell, he's full of bullsh--"

"Malcolm!" Hoshi cried, a laugh escaping her as she tried to keep a straight face. "I can't believe you dislike him so much. What's he done to you? Well, besides shoot you?"

Malcolm exhaled heavily, but before he could say anything, Trip spoke up. "He's a major. He outranks Malcolm."

"That has nothing to do with it!" Malcolm retorted. He was beginning to feel like his friends were ganging up on him.

Trip held up a hand as he got to his feet. "Take it easy, Malcolm. I'm just pullin' your leg. Seeing how touchy you are about this, maybe it would be best if I got back to work trying to figure out how he showed up here in the first place. The sooner we know that, the sooner we can send him back."

With that, Trip walked off, and Malcolm muttered, "Good riddance." Catching the startled stares from Hoshi and Travis, Malcolm said, "I didn't mean Trip. I meant..." He exhaled heavily again. What little appetite he'd had was gone, and he pushed his plate away.

"I think we know who you meant," Hoshi said.

"On that note, I'll be getting back to work, too," Travis said as he got to his feet. "You coming, Hoshi?"

"I'll be along in a minute," she said, and Travis nodded and walked away. After he'd exited the mess hall, Hoshi turned a concerned gaze on Malcolm. "This really is difficult for you, isn't it?"

Malcolm bit back a sarcastic comment. She wasn't trying to tease him. She was genuinely concerned about him. "I talked to him quite a bit yesterday, and again this morning," he said. "The impression I get is that his universe is much...harder...than ours. They have a civilization advanced enough to travel among the stars, but human behavior isn't as civilized as it is here." He shook his head. "This probably doesn't make much sense."

"No, you're making perfect sense," she said. "The fact that he comes from a place where there's a Terran Empire is an indication of what you're trying to say." When he looked at her in surprise, she continued. "You have a background in security. You're looking at it from that perspective. To you, 'empire' most likely implies a rigid social structure with a strong military presence. Such a civilization wouldn't be as 'nice' as what we are used to."

Curious to find out her reasoning, he asked, "But you came to the same conclusion differently?"

She nodded and took a sip of tea before speaking. "It's my linguistics background. Not only do you learn languages, but how the individual words came to mean what they do. No matter what language the word 'empire' is in, it means a sovereign state that has been made greater by conquest, whether military or economic or some other means. It implies force in obtaining its possessions." It was her turn to sigh heavily. "Any student of history can tell you that life in an empire can be hard, especially if you're not a member of the elite. Even then, you're constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering if someone is trying to undermine or discredit you, so they can take what you have."

Malcolm looked at her in something close to wonder. He'd never heard Hoshi discuss anything like this before. Maybe she did understand what concerned him about their so-called guest.

"I think you're right to be cautious of him," she said after a moment. "If he's anything like you, but without your 'civilized' behavior, he could be a very dangerous man."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Reed paced the living quarters he was given. Larger than his own on his _Enterprise_, he had plenty of room to move around. His release from sickbay had at least relieved the feeling of being a trapped animal.

After a cursory inspection of the cabin and adjoining bathroom, he did a thorough search for surveillance devices. He found none, which surprised him. These people were either inept or naive. Granted, there were two guards outside his door, but there were other ways he could cause trouble that didn't involve leaving his cabin.

He turned his attention to the computer console on the desk. To his disappointment, he found he couldn't look at anything but a library of literary works. Access to everything else was denied. He leaned back in the chair at the desk and drummed his fingers on the desktop. He'd have to find something with which to amuse himself to keep from going stark raving bonkers. It would be a plus if he could find something he could use to his advantage. All manner of things, from information to weapons, could be useful. There might even be something here which could advance his position in his universe.

He got to his feet and went to the door. For the benefit of the guards, he smiled as he opened it. It was time to start learning his way around and getting an idea of the discipline of the crew on this ship. If these people were as gullible and trusting as they appeared to be, he ought to be able to find a few people who could be duped into helping him.

He was almost tempted to try cutting a deal with the captain of this ship. Archer had let him loose, after all. What a stupid thing to do! The Archer he knew would have put him in the agony booth to make sure he'd been telling the truth about being from another universe, and then most likely would have had him pushed out an airlock into open space. There had to be some reason Archer was captain here, though. Reed wasn't yet ready to push the man to find out if he had the same ruthless streak as his counterpart.

Maybe he'd run into that communications officer again. Not only could she be a font of information, but she could be a pleasant way for him to pass his time. It would be interesting to find out if she had some of the same talents as the captain's woman with whom he was acquainted.

* * *

"You know," Trip said, "it might help if we had him here." 

T'Pol looked up from the data she'd been going over in the command center. "Major Reed?"

"Yeah," Trip said. "We know how our transporter operates. But there might be some differences in the set-up where he comes from. That could explain why he wound up here."

T'Pol considered what he said and nodded. "A difference in the conditions involving transporter technology in his universe could be, in part, responsible. It would be useful to know what differences, if any, there are. That is, provided Major Reed understands the process," she added.

Trip moved over to the comm panel, a grin lighting his face. "I've been wanting to do this ever since I found out his rank. It will irritate Malcolm something fierce." He keyed open the comm and said, "Major Reed. Report to the command center."

T'Pol merely arched an eyebrow and returned her attention to her work.

* * *

Malcolm had gone back to the armory after lunch and had found, much to his relief, that he was able to concentrate more fully on his duties. Talking to Hoshi had been good for him, if only to make him realize that his personal distaste of his counterpart wasn't coloring his opinion. There was at least one other person on board who had reservations about Reed, and her reasoning wasn't based on a gut feeling. 

He'd just taken the cover off the controls of a torpedo when the comm panel sounded and Trip's voice came through. _"Major Reed. Report to the command center."_

"Major!" Malcolm exclaimed, dropping the cover which landed with a clang on the deck. The brief surge of anger faded as he realized they had to call the other man something. All the same, he thought, if the "major" was going to be in the command center, he ought to be there, too. No telling what mischief the man could get into there.

Calling over to one of his staff, he told the man where he'd be, and hurried out of the armory.

* * *

Hoshi looked up from the communications console when she heard the turbolift door open. A brawny MACO stepped out and gestured for someone behind him to exit. She watched as Major Reed, trailed by another MACO, sauntered out and gazed around the bridge. At a word from the first MACO, Reed followed him to the entrance of the command center, but not before his eyes met and held hers for several seconds. 

It was a good thing she was sitting, otherwise her suddenly weak knees wouldn't have held her. Flustered, she tried to sort out what had just happened as the command center door closed after the trio.

Malcolm had never looked at her like that. Malcolm was courteous and respectful. He had come to be a good friend she could trust. He also could be intimidating when he was angry, but she knew he'd never lift a finger against her. On the contrary, he'd do everything he could to protect her from harm.

There was nothing courteous or respectful about the man who had just crossed the bridge. His eyes had been smoldering with repressed desire. Perhaps more than that. There was something primal about the way he'd looked at her. It had sent a shocked tingle through her, startling her by its intensity.

Malcolm was right. The man was dangerous. Not that she couldn't take care of herself. Quite the contrary. She was confident she could handle him. It might be interesting to see what happened, and it was only with the slightest bit of guilty pleasure that she realized she might actually enjoy such an encounter.

* * *

Malcolm hurried across the bridge from the turbolift on his way to the command center. Intent as he was on reaching his destination, he still registered Hoshi's bemused gaze. She was probably wondering why he was in such a rush. He didn't have time to stop and talk, however. Even if he did, he wasn't inclined to tell her why he was on the bridge when his scheduled duty shift was in the armory. It was one thing for her to understand his concern about Major Reed; it was another for her to think he was acting precipitately on his paranoia. 

He stepped into the command center to find Reed standing next to T'Pol at one of the consoles. Trip was doing something at one of the other work stations while T'Pol explained the principles of the transporter to Reed. Malcolm must have given some sign of his misgivings, for Trip came over to stand beside him.

"They're comparing notes between our transporter system and what they use in his universe," Trip said quietly. "They might find a clue about what happened to send him here."

Malcolm swallowed and nodded. That made sense, but he wasn't thrilled about telling Reed how any of Enterprise's systems operated. While the information for the transporter wasn't classified, it somehow felt wrong to be telling him. Knowledge was power, and Reed struck him as someone who couldn't be trusted with any kind of knowledge.

T'Pol turned to Malcolm and said, "Perhaps a review of what you were doing before and during the transport, as well as what Major Reed was doing, will give us an indication of how his transfer to this universe took place."

T'Pol had already familiarized herself with his report, so this recitation must be for Reed's benefit, Malcolm realized. He gave a succinct accounting of the process, including the problem of locking on to the target while using the shield-enhanced particle stream. He dutifully recounted everything he could remember. When he finished, it was Reed's turn.

"I wasn't involved in the process itself, other than being the object being transported," Reed said dryly, "so I don't know if there were any unusual readings at the time. But our system is basically the same as yours -- without the shield enhancement, of course. Interesting idea, by the way."

"Were you transporting from your ship or to your ship?" T'Pol asked.

"I was on a planet and was transporting back to my ship," he replied.

As the questions and answers went back and forth, Malcolm had to admit his counterpart was knowledgeable outside his area of specialization in security and weapons. He understood the engineering principles behind the transporter process. Yet another thing they had in common besides their looks, he thought sourly.

"Were there any energy disturbances on the planet at the time you transported?" T'Pol asked.

Reed shrugged. "There was an electrical storm near where I was, but it was a localized event and not planetwide. I've transported through much worse many times. There's never been a problem before."

"Did anybody else transport back to the ship before you?" Trip asked.

"No," Reed replied. "I was the only one on the planet at the time."

Trip turned to T'Pol and said, "Maybe some kind of technology on the planet interfered with the process."

"There wasn't any technology on the planet," Reed said. "It was an uninhabited world."

Malcolm frowned and asked, "What were you doing there?"

Reed turned his gaze on him. "Hunting."

"So there was some form of animal life there," T'Pol said with an expression of distaste.

"No." Reed smirked. "A member of the crew facing disciplinary action had gone down to the planet without authorization. I was sent to track him down."

Malcolm had an idea what had happened, but before he could verbalize his suspicion, Trip said, "So, you went down to get him back. But you said you were the only person transporting back to the ship. Didn't you find him?"

"I found him. Like I told you -- I was hunting," Reed said. He glanced at Malcolm. "Lucky for you I put the phase rifle's setting back on stun when I was finished."

* * *

Hoshi was still at the communications console when the meeting in the command center broke up two hours later. Major Reed was the first person to step out onto the bridge. As he sauntered toward her, trailed by his escort, Hoshi wished there were more people around. She took a deep breath and braced herself as Reed walked around her console and stood facing her in front of it. His eyes did a thorough assessment of her before he spoke. "Hard at work, I see." 

"I try," Hoshi said in what she hoped was a steady voice.

"I bet you're very good," he said, a sardonic smile lurking at the edges of his lips.

Hoshi looked at him askance. By his inflection, she knew he was talking about something other than her duties. Her unease started to give way to something more mischievous as she recognized the age-old challenge in what he was doing. She smiled and answered with a gleam in her eye. "You have no idea how good."

Reed laughed softly at that. He shifted his weight and put one hand on the rail in front of her console. "Would you be willing to show me?" he asked.

Hoshi's eyebrows shot up, and she had to bite her lip to keep from snickering. She found she was enjoying the exchange. "Well, I don't know," she prevaricated, averting her gaze as if she were giving his question serious consideration. She glanced back at him. "What's in it for me?"

His expression was answer enough, and she felt the same tingle shoot through her that had happened when he'd first locked eyes with her when he'd walked onto the bridge earlier. He was leaning in closer toward her when she heard the command center door open again. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Malcolm. The momentary distraction was enough to break the spell. She turned back to Reed. "Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that question."

Malcolm was bearing down on them, a displeased expression on his face, as Reed's gaze bored into hers. "Pity," Reed said quietly. But Hoshi thought he was amused all the same.

"Do you have a reason to be on the bridge?" Malcolm asked Reed pointedly as he came to stand beside Hoshi's console.

Reed glanced at him, then back at Hoshi. "Just this lovely lady," he said. He gave her an abbreviated bow and, with one last heated gaze at her, he turned and headed for the turbolift, followed by the two MACOs. Hoshi watched him the entire way until the door shut between them, cutting off her view. Mindful of Malcolm standing next to her, she held in the sigh that threatened to escape her.

"Hoshi..." Malcolm said.

She turned slightly in her seat so that she could look up at him. He was staring down at her with a curious expression. "Yes, Malcolm?" she asked, careful to keep her own expression blank. He'd already warned her once about their guest, and it wasn't like she was some silly little schoolgirl. While she appreciated his concern, she wished he would just butt out.

"Never mind," he said. Shaking his head, he walked away.

Hoshi made sure she hid her smile until he left the bridge.

* * *

Hoshi Sato appeared to be a tempting morsel in both his universe and this one, Reed thought as he and the two guards rode in the turbolift. This Hoshi, however, didn't have the hard edge of her counterpart. Still, he'd caught a hint of backbone behind that seemingly innocent demeanor. If there was a chance, he'd like to become better acquainted with the Hoshi of this universe. 

The 'lift door opened, and his mind turned to the meeting in the command center as he stepped out. The exchange of information about transporter systems hadn't provided him with any useful data, although from the way that other Malcolm Reed had acted, you'd think state secrets were being given away. The transporter had been a good place to start. Too bad they hadn't covered any information concerning the shield enhancement of the particle stream. It might have some practical applications back in his universe. That is, if he was able to return.

He opened the door to his cabin and stepped in, letting the door slide shut between him and his ever-present escort. He shouldn't be waiting around to see if he could be sent back. He should start making plans on the assumption he couldn't. He was on his own in a hostile environment. With a grunt, he realized this place wasn't that much different from where he came from. He'd never trusted anyone there. He wasn't about to start trusting the people here.

He lay down on the bunk, hands behind his head, and considered the options available to him. It wasn't long before the image of the communications officer's face rose up in his mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Sorry. I meant to post this sooner, but I had a migraine last night and couldn't see straight. Makes it a little difficult to see the words on the screen, drat! The migraine's gone now, thank goodness! I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for all the encouraging words on the past chapters, too. It's much appreciated.

CHAPTER 5

Hoshi's steps slowed as she neared Major Reed's cabin. It wasn't as if she didn't want to do this. She did, really, but she was having second thoughts. She wondered if she'd decided to do this simply because she knew Malcolm wouldn't like it.

Reed had been on board for three days. He'd met several times with Trip and T'Pol to go over the transporter operation, but they'd had no luck finding what had caused his arrival in this universe. Trip and Malcolm were currently going over the specs for the shield enhancement. Since in Major Reed's universe there was nothing like that, at least in conjunction with a transporter, Malcolm had strenuously objected to the major's presence during any session that had dealt with the EM field barrier. As a justification of his refusal to allow Reed access to the shield specs, Malcolm had muttered something about not giving Reed an unfair advantage when he returned home.

_When _he returned home, Hoshi thought with a wry smile. Not if. Malcolm was determined that Reed would be sent back to where he came from, and the sooner, the better. To say Malcolm was paranoid about his double was an understatement. He'd adamantly refused to allow Reed to be issued any clothing that even vaguely looked like a Starfleet uniform jumpsuit. In the last day or two, Reed had been wearing civilian clothing from the quartermaster's stores. If it weren't for his slicked-back hair, she wouldn't have been able to tell if it was him or Malcolm. She seriously didn't expect Major Reed to take advantage of their resemblance, but she wasn't surprised Malcolm wasn't about to take any chances.

A prickle of uncertainty slowed her steps even more. She wondered if she'd react the same way as Malcolm if it had been someone who looked like her who had suddenly appeared on the transporter pad.

Still, this other Malcolm Reed had captured her interest. First, there was the novelty of another man who, as far as outward appearances went, was the exact duplicate of a man she'd known for five years. Then there was the way he'd looked at her on the bridge, not to mention the first time she'd seen him in sickbay and thought he was acting under the influence of something Phlox had given him. She'd had her share of boyfriends and significant others, but not a single one of them had ever looked at her with such open fire. She felt compelled to get closer to Reed, even as a little voice in her head kept telling her to run the other way.

She rounded the last curve in the corridor before Reed's cabin and saw the MACOs stationed outside the door. They'd seen her, too, so there was no turning back without looking silly. She tried to project a sense of confidence as she approached the two men. "Excuse me," she said, indicating she wanted access to the door panel.

The MACOs stepped aside and she pushed the chime to announce her arrival. The door opened immediately to reveal Major Reed. He was clad once again in the dark uniform he'd been wearing when he'd come aboard.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked pleasantly.

"Uh, no," she said. "Are you ready?"

"I am," he said, tugging the bottom of his black jacket and stepping out into the corridor. He cast a disgruntled glance at the two MACOs. "We couldn't leave them here, could we?"

"No," Hoshi said, and was amused when he sighed dramatically. He was much more open in his reactions than Malcolm. "This way."

Reed fell in step with her, giving the MACOs following them one last martyred glance. Hoshi couldn't think of anything to say. She kept darting glances at her companion who seemed comfortable with the silence, but nevertheless was returning her glances with a sardonic smile. They walked without speaking until they reached the turbolift.

"I suppose they have to ride in the same turbolift car with us?" Reed asked.

Hoshi was about to tell him that if he was going to constantly complain about the escort, he may as well forget about going anywhere, but the twinkle in his eyes stopped her. He wasn't whining -- he was trying to get a rise out of her, and she'd almost fallen for it.

"Yes, they do," she replied sweetly. "And if they don't, we'll just cancel this visit to the hydroponics bay."

He rolled his eyes in an exaggerated version of what she'd seen Malcolm do at times. "Wouldn't want that to happen, would we? It's not like there's much else I'm allowed to see on this ship...although I do like what I'm seeing now."

Hoshi snorted as she stepped into the turbolift. There was a line if she'd ever heard one. She couldn't believe the man's audacity -- coming on to her with two MACOs in attendance. She waited as Reed and the two guards got in, then closed the door and entered their destination on the control panel. She caught Reed's eye again and, shaking her head, chuckled. He gave her a confident smile in response.

The 'lift stopped sooner than it should have. Someone else between them and their destination must have summoned it. Sure enough, when the door opened, it was not on the deck they wanted. And of all the crew who could have possibly wanted to use the turbolift, it had to be Malcolm. His cold stare went from Reed, to her, to the MACOs behind them, and back to her. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked her coolly.

Hoshi bristled. Major Reed had every right to be out of his cabin as long as he was accompanied by his escort. But Hoshi knew that wasn't what Malcolm was in a snit about. He was demanding to know why _she _was with Reed. "I'm going to show Major Reed the hydroponics bay," she retorted somewhat frostily herself.

Malcolm's eyes narrowed, and Hoshi realized that he probably had the wrong idea. If _Enterprise _had a romantic spot for couples, it would have to be the hydroponics bay. Not only did it house the vegetable plants used to supplement the galley's supplies, but it also contained many species of flowering plants and shrubs. How it could be romantic with two armed MACOs watching their every move, she didn't know, but apparently Malcolm thought it could.

"I'm bored, old chap," Reed said, his voice smoothly cutting through the tension. "Staring at the bulkheads in my cabin is driving me bonkers. And there aren't many places on board that I'm allowed to go," he added with a pointed stare at Malcolm. They all knew who had imposed that restriction on Reed.

"That doesn't--" Malcolm stopped, frowning as he glanced away.

_--explain why I'm with him,_ Hoshi silently finished the thought. She wished Malcolm would quit acting like a big brother. The possibility that he might be jealous crossed her mind, but she dismissed it. It was just over-protective Malcolm acting like he usually did -- only more so. "It's nothing that other guests on board haven't seen," she said reasonably.

Malcolm jerked his gaze back to her. "There are plenty of other people on board who can play tour guide. You don't need to be taking time off from your duties."

Trying to hold her temper in check and also aware of Reed watching the exchange with interest, she said evenly, "I'm off duty, and I wanted to do it." She gestured toward the control panel. "Well? Are you going to get in, or are we going to tie up this turbolift all day?"

Malcolm, his hands clenched, glared at Reed, then at her. "No. I'll wait for the next one."

Hoshi raised her eyebrows in a "suit yourself" expression and pressed the button to close the turbolift door. As the 'lift began to move, she couldn't look at Reed, afraid that she'd see him smirking.

When the turbolift arrived at the deck they wanted, she was the first one out. She was already regretting her rudeness to Malcolm, but the man had asked for it. Who did he think he was? The head of security on _Enterprise_, her mind immediately supplied. As such, he had a duty to protect the ship, and he obviously thought Reed presented some type of danger. But he was overreacting solely on the basis that Reed looked like him. Well, to be honest, Reed was him, in a manner of speaking. But Reed hadn't done anything wrong. As long as he behaved, there should be no problem.

As they walked down the corridor, she finally admitted to herself that part of the reason she'd agreed to do this was because the man walking beside her was so different from Malcolm. Malcolm had never once flirted with her; in fact, one time he'd thought she'd been coming on to him when in truth all she was trying to do was find out what his favorite food was so she could plan a birthday surprise. He was so tightly controlled, and very few times had she seen him relax that control. She wondered if he loosened up if he would come across more like Major Reed.

She wasn't about to tell Malcolm, though, that Reed had specifically asked for her to show him around. That would only fuel Malcolm's paranoia.

She decided she wasn't going to let Malcolm ruin the visit to hydroponics. It was one of her favorite places on the ship. The roses alone were worth the trip to the lower deck on which they were housed. She was smiling by the time they arrived at the entrance to the bay. "Here we are," she said cheerily as she moved to open the hatch.

Reed slipped between her and the entrance. "Permit me," he said.

Hoshi stepped back to allow him to open the hatch, thinking that Reed could be rather charming when he wanted to be. He opened the hatch and stepped back, indicating with an outstretched arm that she should enter first. She stepped in.

"Back off, you git!" Reed suddenly said from behind her.

Hoshi turned around to see an angry Reed toe-to-toe with one of the MACOs. The soldier didn't look either intimidated or apologetic. Rather, he seemed puzzled.

"What's the problem?" Hoshi asked.

"This uncoordinated idiot stepped on my heel," Reed said. "The least they could do is keep their distance."

Hoshi glanced at the MACO, who shrugged. Not wanting this excursion to become any more tense than it already had, Hoshi made a command decision. "Markwell, Stevens. You can wait outside."

Markwell, the MACO who had offended Reed, tried to protest. "But Ensign Sato--"

"I know your orders," Hoshi cut him off. "But there's only one exit from this compartment, and this is it. It's not like Major Reed can run off, or get into any trouble with a bunch of plants. Now move."

Markwell looked like he wanted to protest again, but he swallowed and nodded. With a curt gesture to his fellow MACO, he stepped out into the corridor. Hoshi let out a deep breath as Reed shut the hatch after their departure.

"That was very masterfully done," Reed said with an appreciative smile.

Hoshi's earlier uncertainty came rushing back. "Thank you," she said. She turned and took a few steps away to regain her composure. Reed had gone from charming to belligerent in the blink of an eye, and now he was back to charming again. In the process, she'd become totally confused. She heard the measured tread of his footsteps as he came to join her.

"So," he said, "tell me about these plants."

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"Nothing, really," he admitted. "But they do make for a nice change of scenery."

The wistful note in his voice prompted her to ask, "It's not that bad here, is it?"

"Not now," he said in a low voice that made her look at him warily. He was giving her the same look that had sent tingles through her on the bridge. She fleetingly wondered if the incident with the MACO had been a ploy on his part to get her alone.

"Well, I'm, ah, sure you probably have the, ah, same plants in your universe," she floundered, unable to look away from his penetrating gaze. "I mean, it can't be that different."

"I haven't the slightest idea," he said in a smooth voice as he took a step closer to her. "And, right now, I don't care."

His hand came up to cup her cheek as he leaned toward her. At the last moment, right before his lips touched hers, Hoshi closed her eyes, but her mind retained the image of his searing gray-blue eyes. He was gentle, perhaps waiting to see what her reaction would be. When he pulled back after receiving none, her eyes remained closed, and his lips swooped in again with a fierce intensity that elicited a startled gasp from her. Her hand moved up between them, but before she could push him away, her traitorous fingers tangled in the fabric of his jacket and pulled him closer.

He wrapped both arms around her, pulling her up against him. His lips continued to ravage hers as a triumphant growl escaped him. One of his hands slipped down her back to her buttocks, pulling her closer against him.

Hoshi had to fight the urge to give in. But the looks he'd been giving her, the sly remarks, the heady fragrance of the roses only a few feet away were battering against her resolve. Surely it wouldn't go much further than this, she told herself dazedly. It couldn't. This wasn't right.

Then, when he tried to force her back towards a bulkhead -- the better to trap her against him, she realized -- she made up her mind. She shoved against him, trying to break his hold. When she finally pushed him away, her chest heaving with both exertion and indignation, the smirk on his face infuriated her. She drew her arm back and slapped him in the face just as the hatch was flung open. Malcolm, looking ready to kill, barged in.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: Sorry for the cliff-hanger at the end of the last chapter -- NOT! I meant to do that. Thanks for the reviews, too. They're the highlight of my day.

CHAPTER 6

Malcolm held his ground as Hoshi marched toward him. To his surprise, she sailed past without a word and out into the corridor. He'd seen the bright pink suffusing her cheeks, as well as the resounding rebuff she'd just given Reed. Judging by her indignant expression and the set of her shoulders as she'd rushed by, she'd be all right. She was tougher than she looked.

Her precipitous exit left him alone with Reed in the hydroponics bay. Malcolm took a perverse satisfaction in seeing the red mark on his double's face where Hoshi had hit him. Only the fact that she hadn't seemed to be hurt kept him from beating his look-alike to a pulp. "What did you do to her?" Malcolm demanded.

"What's it to you?" Reed countered with a sneer. "Unless you have some claim on her, perhaps?"

Malcolm cared about Hoshi, but he didn't have a relationship with her the way his double was trying to imply, and he refused to get drawn into an argument over something that was none of Reed's business anyway. He took a step toward the other man. "She's my friend, and I don't want to see her get hurt," he said. "Leave Ensign Sato alone, or you'll have to deal with me."

The other smirked. "That might prove interesting. It would be like testing myself...against me. I wonder which one of us would win?"

His patience near the breaking point, Malcolm said evenly, "I'm warning you: Leave her alone."

Reed tilted his head to one side and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't remember any specific prohibitions about contact with the crew -- just places I couldn't go on this ship," he said.

It was all Malcolm could do to keep from throttling the man as Reed walked slowly around him. Only Malcolm's eyes moved, tracking Reed's progress, as he wondered what the other man was up to.

Reed finished his circuit and came to stand in front of him. The two men locked gazes for several seconds before Reed spoke. "I'll think about it," he said, and turned and left the hydroponics bay.

Malcolm stalked over to the hatch and looked out to see Reed with his escort walking away down the corridor. Fat lot of good the MACOs had been! Without consciously thinking about it, he made his right hand into a fist and slammed his knuckles into the bulkhead as hard as he could.

* * *

Hoshi was torn between anger and embarrassment after she left the hydroponics bay. Instead of taking the turbolift, she was working off some of her frustration by taking the access ladders all the way up to C deck. When she got to her cabin, she was going to have a good cry or eat every piece of chocolate she had squirreled away. She hadn't decided which. Maybe she'd do both; she was in that kind of mood. 

She should have known better. Malcolm had tried to warn her about Reed, but of course that had only served to spur her on. And whatever had possessed her to tell the MACOs to wait outside hydroponics? She'd acted like a total fool.

As she calmed down, she realized a lot of what had happened was because of the way she perceived herself. After five years on board, sometimes she felt like she was nothing more in a cog in the machinery that was _Enterprise_. The nondescript uniforms didn't do much to bolster her ego, either. Utilitarian and practical, the uniform jumpsuit also served the purpose of making everyone look pretty much alike. So when Reed had shown an obvious physical interest in her despite her drab uniform, she'd been flattered. She couldn't deny that she'd enjoyed the first part of what had taken place in the hydroponics bay and, being honest with herself, she knew why she'd found it enjoyable. The flirting and the way Reed made her feel when he looked at her had served to boost to her self-esteem. That first kiss had taken her off-guard, too, with its gentleness. But when he'd pressed harder, showing his true intention, she had panicked as his muscle-corded arms had held her in a vise-like grip.

What with climbing the ladders and walking so quickly through the corridors, Hoshi was out of breath by the time she reached her cabin door. She punched in her access code and hurried inside, leaning back against the door after it shut. She closed her eyes as she caught her breath, and told herself it would be a good idea to give Major Reed a wide berth from now on.

If she was really lucky, Malcolm wouldn't ask her what had happened and she wouldn't have to suffer the humiliation of telling him. After his warning about Reed, the least she owed Malcolm was an explanation of that scene in hydroponics -- but only if he asked.

Malcolm was very perceptive, however. He'd probably figured out what had happened. With a groan, Hoshi pushed away from the door and headed for the drawer where she kept her chocolate stash.

* * *

Reed wasn't terribly disappointed that his double had shown up when he had. It wasn't like he was getting anywhere with the communications officer. But the tactical officer's abrupt arrival had given him an idea. 

The stupid git hadn't the slightest idea why he'd walked around him. His double had just stood there, practically vibrating with outrage, as Reed had taken a closer look at him. It really was remarkable how similar they looked. With a few outward changes on his part, no one would be able to tell them apart.

After going back to his quarters, Reed went into the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror over the sink. He'd have to find something to cover up the small scar above his lip, and he'd also have to get his hands on a uniform, but he didn't think that would be too difficult a task. Trimming his hair a bit and combing it differently would complete the transformation.

As he stared at his reflection, he knew he'd made a mistake with the communications officer. He'd been expecting her to react like the Hoshi Sato in his universe. But this Hoshi was different, and, if the opportunity arose, he'd have to take a different approach.

* * *

After Reed's departure, Malcolm remained in the hydroponics bay, nursing his bruised knuckles. He'd come very close to punching Reed in the face instead of hitting the bulkhead. The man was insufferable. All Malcolm's instincts were screaming that Reed belonged in the brig, not running loose and preying on female crew members. Especially one particular female crew member, he told himself. One who meant a lot to him, whether she knew it or not. 

He exhaled noisily. Ever since Reed had come on board and he'd found out what type of universe he came from, Malcolm had been thinking about what he'd be like if he had to live in such a place. The few hints that Reed had dropped -- ranging from blatantly flirting with Hoshi when he'd thought she was the "captain's woman" to the revelation that he'd deliberately killed a crew member who had tried to avoid disciplinary action -- indicated he was a ruthless, unprincipled, dangerous man.

Malcolm hated it when he started self-analyzing, but he found himself doing some soul-searching anyway. He wondered if -- under the right circumstances -- he would be the same as Reed. He didn't like what he found.

Grimacing as he sucked the blood oozing from a scraped knuckle, he thought it was a good thing that he had decided to follow Hoshi and Reed to the hydroponics bay. He'd been fairly certain Reed wouldn't try anything if he'd been present, but he'd been astounded by how quickly the man had moved once he thought he wasn't being watched. Malcolm's unexpected arrival had confirmed his suspicions.

Hoshi may have been able to handle this situation, but he wouldn't put it past Reed to try something more devious next time. Not that there'd be a next time, if Malcolm could help it. He was going to have to keep Reed away from Hoshi.

* * *

"I'm beginning to think it had something to do with the energy generated by that storm Major Reed told us about," Trip said to T'Pol. "What if we set up some simulations to give us an idea what effect it might have had?" 

T'Pol nodded. The proposal had merit and shouldn't be overlooked. They'd compared the two transporter systems and, unless Major Reed was withholding information, they'd found no reason for his being pulled into this universe. All aspects of the shield enhancement -- from the programming down to the hardware -- had been examined as well. She had been concentrating lately on that angle, as it was the only dissimilarity between the two transporter systems, and as such was the logical aspect to investigate.

"Perhaps the use of the shield enhancement in our universe at the same time as a storm generating unstable energy in the other universe is responsible," she said. "But there may be other variables of which we are unaware."

"We can start by running simulations on what effect such a storm would have on Malcolm's shield-enhanced transporter particle stream," Trip said, moving over to another console in the command center and calling up data. After a few moments, he said, "Hope we come up with something. Malcolm's about to lose it."

As she joined him at the console, T'Pol asked, "Lose what?"

Trip grinned slightly as he continued working. "Having Major Reed around is drivin' him nuts."

"Ah," T'Pol said, understanding that reference. "I would suppose having a 'double' appear unexpectedly would cause a certain amount of anxiety..." She paused, watching Trip from the corner of her eye. "...in a member of an emotionally immature species."

She was mildly surprised when her thinly veiled jibe was met with only a tolerant smile on Trip's part. If the engineer wouldn't verbally spar with her, he must be very concerned about Lieutenant Reed's mental state. She began pushing buttons on the console to set up a simulation.

* * *

Getting the uniform turned out to be easier than Reed had anticipated. He remembered from his first visit to the quartermaster's store that the office was cramped. Among the many items cluttering up the place were stacks of the crew's laundered uniforms on one of the floor-to-ceiling shelving units. He also remembered that certain items weren't kept in the office simply because there wasn't enough room for everything. There also wouldn't be enough room for his escort to crowd in after him, and if he worked it right, he could have a minute or two by himself in the office. 

So it was that the MACOs waited in the corridor as Reed entered the quartermaster's office and told the officer he needed a larger pair of boots and two more shirts. The man went to get the boots out of storage while Reed stayed in the office on the pretense of picking out the civilian shirts, a selection of which were in cabinets against one bulkhead.

Unbeknownst to the MACO guards, however, Reed rifled through the clean uniforms as soon as the quartermaster left. He was hoping to find a uniform in his size, but as luck would have it, he came across one with "Reed, Malcolm" on the label inside the collar. Reed took that as a sign that what he was going to try would succeed.

He grabbed two shirts at random, stuck the uniform between them and made a neat pile with the shirt on top effectively covering the uniform, and was waiting patiently when the quartermaster returned with his new boots.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: This almost didn't get posted. My computer had major problems, but luckily hubby is a wonderful computer expert and was able to fix it. Whew! And once again, thank you for the wonderful reviews.

CHAPTER 7

Hoshi surveyed the mess hall as she walked in the next morning for breakfast. Malcolm wasn't there, and neither was Major Reed. She knew Malcolm wouldn't tell anyone about the scene she had caused yesterday, and she didn't think the members of Reed's MACO escort would, either. Not that any of them had seen much, but they probably could make a good guess about what had caused it. She wasn't up to facing them yet, and she wasn't sure what she would do if she came across Major Reed any time soon, either. Scowling at her thoughts, she picked out a bowl of oatmeal from the serving line.

From behind her, a pleasant male voice with a Southern drawl said, "If you think it's that bad, I'm definitely not gonna get that."

She turned to Trip with a quirky smile. "It's not the food I'm thinking about."

"Ah," Trip said as he also picked out a bowl of oatmeal. "Something on your mind?"

"There is." Hoshi sighed and, in response to his curious gaze, said, "I'll live -- once I get over the embarrassment."

She moved off toward a table and Trip followed. As if having Malcolm act like a big brother wasn't enough, now she'd have to put up with Trip's curious prying through breakfast. He could be just as protective as Malcolm, and she knew he'd try to find out what was bothering her. Sure enough, as soon as they sat down, he asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Trip would be sympathetic, she knew. He'd had more than his share of embarrassing encounters with the opposite sex. But she'd already decided she wasn't going to tell anyone. She shook her head. "I just want to forget it."

"That bad, huh?" he asked sympathetically, dipping his spoon into his oatmeal and taking a taste. He swallowed with a grimace. "Speaking of bad," he said and put down his spoon, "I think maybe something_ is _wrong with the oatmeal."

Hoshi took a small taste from her bowl. "Seems fine to me," she said. She toyed with her oatmeal, swirling the spoon around in it. She wasn't really hungry. Across the table from her, Trip ignored his oatmeal in favor of some strips of bacon and a couple slices of toast.

"Don't forget," he told her. "Tonight's movie night."

She hadn't forgotten. Usually, she looked forward to it, but she was dreading just getting through today. While on duty, she could avoid most personal conversations, pretending to be busy even if she wasn't, but off duty was another matter. Her intention was to go back to her cabin as soon as her duty shift was finished. That was no reason not to be polite, however. "What's the movie?" she asked.

"I haven't decided yet," he said. "You ought to come, though. It might cheer you up and take your mind off your problem -- whatever it is." He paused to look searchingly at her. He was probably waiting for her to tell him, she realized. When she didn't respond, he said in a cajoling tone, "I'll even let you pick the movie."

"That's very sweet of you, Trip," she said. He did have a point, though. It might be a good idea to find something to distract her. If she did stay hidden away in her cabin, she'd just brood and kill off the last of her chocolate stash. She considered what would cheer her up in the frame of mind she was in. "Just about anything would be fine," she finally said, "but no action movies. How about a chick flick?"

Trip frowned. "You know everybody likes the action-adventure stuff, especially Malcolm. That's about the only type of movie he'll come see."

That's what she was counting on. If the movie was an over-the-top chick flick, Malcolm wouldn't put in an appearance. She seriously doubted Major Reed would find such a movie of interest, either -- if anybody bothered to tell him about movie night, that is. She could have a nice, enjoyable evening without either of them around.

"How about 'Pretty Woman?'" Trip asked. "Or 'Steel Magnolias?' That's one of my favorites." He lowered his voice and leaned towards her. "I'll warn you, though. The ending of that one always makes me cry. You might wind up having to cheer me up."

Hoshi laughed. "No, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Thelma and Louise,'" she said. It fit her mood perfectly. She knew the ending was tragic, but that was all right. It was the fault of the male characters in the movie that the story ended with the women driving off a cliff. Right now, she knew exactly what that felt like.

Trip swallowed a bit of toast and nodded. "'Thelma and Louise' it is."

* * *

Malcolm was in the armory later that day, trying to do some maintenance, when Trip came by with some inter-departmental reports. When Trip told him what the movie that evening would be, Malcolm grimaced. "Couldn't you have picked out something interesting?" he asked. 

Trip laughed on his way out of the armory. "Not everybody appreciates a good explosion the way you do, Malcolm," he called over his shoulder.

Malcolm grunted as he returned his attention to work. Maybe it was just as well the movie didn't interest him. He'd let some of the maintenance in the armory fall behind since Major Reed had come on board. He could put in some extra hours tonight and catch up.

He paused, wondering if his look-alike would be at the movie. The man couldn't possibly cause trouble in a room filled with crewmen. The MACOs would keep him under close surveillance, too. During the morning briefing with the soldiers, he'd made it very clear that Major Reed was never under any circumstances to be out of their sight when he was out of his cabin.

Still, there was something about the man that made Malcolm believe he could take the most innocuous situation and turn it to his advantage. Maybe he ought to attend movie night, just to make sure. Then he remembered the movie that was scheduled and laughed to himself. Major Reed probably had even less interest in that film then he did. There was no way the man would show up to watch it.

He briefly wondered how Hoshi was doing. He hadn't talked to her all day, and he'd only seen her once when he'd briefly visited the bridge to deliver his weekly crew rotation schedule to T'Pol. He'd noticed that Hoshi had resolutely kept her gaze on her console while he was there. She was probably still angry about what Reed had tried to pull yesterday, and was maybe even embarrassed about him seeing it. Not that she had anything to be embarrassed about, he thought. He'd actually envied her that she'd smacked the bastard across the face. He'd try to remember to tell her that the next time he ran into her. It might cheer her up.

* * *

Now that Reed had something to do, his excrutiating boredom was lessening. He'd managed to jimmy the cover off the comm panel in his quarters and bypass the security protocols to eavesdrop on the corridor outside his door. He'd spent part of last night and most of today listening. So far, he'd learned that the MACOs changed shifts every eight hours. In addition, each of the pair assigned to guard his door would take a short break, one after the other, mid-way through their shift. It was always the same three pairs of MACOs for each twenty-four rotation. He had made sure, when he left for breakfast that morning and then again for lunch, to look at the names stenciled on their uniforms. 

He also made a visit to sickbay. It was totally unnecessary, of course, but he'd told his guards he had a headache. He'd followed the doctor around, asking questions about medicine in this universe. While the doctor had been happy to oblige -- Denobulans were as annoyingly verbose in this universe as in his, apparently -- the guards soon became bored. Reed had managed to pocket a tube of coverup cream when no one was looking after he'd steered the conversation toward skin conditions and the alien doctor had obligingly shown him some of the treatments available.

The trip to sickbay had provided one extra bonus he hadn't anticipated. He'd learned from the talkative doctor that a weekly event for the crew's entertainment was scheduled for this evening. It would provide the perfect opportunity to test what he had in mind.

Early that evening, as he was once again back in his cabin eavesdropping on his guards, he thought that it was too bad that there were two of them on duty. One would have been so much easier to manipulate. But then, he had an advantage anyone else in this situation wouldn't have. With a smirk, he left his listening post and went into the bathroom. It was time to get ready.

* * *

Hoshi had made it through her shift without anyone mentioning her unfortunate incident with Major Reed in hydroponics. Apparently Malcolm and the MACOs were keeping their mouths shut. She'd even managed to avoid thinking about it herself for...oh, twenty minutes at a time. She smiled ruefully as she headed for the mess hall for the movie. Now that she was relatively certain no one would bring it up, she found herself relaxing. She was going to try to forget about everything else and enjoy the movie. 

She arrived just as the lights were being dimmed. The place was only half full. She spotted Trip and Jon near the front with an open seat on either side of them. She didn't want to sit with them because Trip would just try again to find out what was bothering her, and then Jon would want to know what was going on, too. Travis was also there, but he had Liz Cutler on one side and Michael Rostov on the other. They were engaged in an animated conversation and didn't notice her arrival.

She slid into a seat in the empty back row. As the opening credits started to roll on the screen, she sighed. She knew the real reason she was sitting by herself in the back was because she was still upset and embarrassed, and didn't wish to be seen. It wasn't like she was as paranoid as Malcolm, who had to have his back to a wall in a crowded place.

No sooner had she had that thought than the mess hall door opened and Malcolm stepped in. She'd seen him once on the bridge today, but he hadn't gone out of his way to talk to her, for which she'd been grateful. But now, seeing him standing there, she wanted to go hide. The only thing keeping her from doing that was that she'd have to pass by him on her way out.

What was he doing here, anyway? He hated this kind of movie. That was why she had suggested it to Trip, after all. She watched as Malcolm stood just inside the entrance, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. Hoshi slouched down, hoping he wouldn't see her, and willed him to go sit by Trip and Jon.

No such luck. His gaze came to rest on her and he moved in her direction. Without invitation, he took the seat next to her and leaned back. When he didn't speak, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be watching the screen, not her, and she let out a little sigh of relief.

"Not my first choice for a movie, either," Malcolm said quietly and crossed his legs.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye again and saw him smiling sardonically. She snorted and decided to let him in on her little secret. "I picked it out," she said. "I thought you wouldn't want to see it."

Malcolm turned toward her. "Why--?" Several people in front of them turned around and shushed him. "Why," he continued more softly, a confused look on his face, "would you do that?"

Hoshi hung her head to avoid his gaze. "I'm still embarrassed about that scene in hydroponics yesterday," she whispered.

After a moment, he whispered back, "There's nothing to be embarrrassed about. You only did what I've been wanting to do ever since that bast--...since he came on board."

Hoshi finally met his gaze. "But for a totally different reason."

Another shush came from in front of them. Malcolm shot a glare at the crewman who'd done it, then turned back to Hoshi. "Come on," he said. "Let's go talk somewhere else."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to Looneyluna, who challenged (actually, more like threatened) me to write this story in the first place. I know this chapter isn't exactly what she had in mind, but it's close. And it's fun to read all your reviews wondering which Malcolm it is with Hoshi. You'll find out!

CHAPTER 8

Hoshi decided she didn't really want to see a movie that ended with two women driving off a cliff. She'd already resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to talk to Malcolm at some time. This was as good a time as any. She could apologize about not heeding his advice about Major Reed. She got to her feet and followed Malcolm out of the mess hall into the corridor.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked after the door shut behind them.

She shrugged and looked down at the deck. "Doesn't matter."

"I suppose hydroponics is out," he said.

Her head jerked up so she could look at him. But instead of being amused, he appeared to be genuinely sympathetic to what she was feeling. When he offered his arm, she put her hand in the crook at his elbow. "How about the lounge?" she suggested, and Malcolm nodded.

As they started off, he patted her hand where it rested on his arm. While she considered Malcolm a good friend, he wasn't the touchy-feely type. That he would actually make a comforting physical gesture, even a small one, gave her a good feeling.

After a few steps, he asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Hoshi knew "it" wasn't her choice of movie. It wasn't until they reached the turbolift, however, that she could bring herself to speak. "I suppose I ought to talk to someone about it, and since you already know what 'it' is..."

He pushed the button to summon the 'lift, and they waited for its arrival in silence. Before Hoshi could frame what she wanted to say, the 'lift door opened. She took her hand from his arm and stepped in first. When Malcolm stepped in and moved to the back, she entered the destination on the control panel.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. At his quizzical stare, she looked back at the control panel. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to your advice about Major Reed."

"There's no need to apologize--"

"Yes, there is!" she said. She kept her gaze riveted on the control panel and took a deep breath. "I got myself into an embarrassing situation, despite your warning to keep my distance from him. Maybe even in spite of it. I'm sorry you had to see that. I feel like such an idiot." When he didn't say anything, she glanced at him. There was a smile lurking around the corners of his mouth.

"You are not an idiot," he said. "I think you handled yourself very well, and with a lot more restraint than I would have."

The door opened and Hoshi quirked an eyebrow at him as they stepped out. "Somehow I don't think you'd let yourself get into such a situation with that man." Her breath caught in her throat as realized how what she'd said could be taken. "I didn't mean...you know..."

Malcolm laughed. "I know you didn't mean the _exact _same situation." He looked down the corridor. "I think maybe you're letting what happened bother you too much."

Following his gaze, Hoshi realized that she hadn't sent the turbolift to the deck with the lounge. Instead, they were right outside the hydroponics bay. She felt her face start to flush.

"Come on," Malcolm said, taking her arm and leading her toward the hatch to hydroponics. "Maybe this is just what you need. Exorcise it from your system. Just like getting back on a horse or a bicycle after you've fallen off."

"More like returning to the scene of the crime," she muttered glumly, but she couldn't keep from smiling when he chuckled at her remark.

She followed him into the bay. The scent of roses came to her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the enticing fragrance soothe her. Malcolm was right -- this was what she needed. Her eyes still closed, she heard him move away, then come back. She opened her eyes to find him standing before her, holding out a red rose. She took the rose, held it to her nose, and inhaled.

"Hoshi," Malcolm said.

She looked up at him and blinked in surprise. Never in the five years that she'd known him had he looked at her like he was now.

"This is the way I think of you," he said in a husky voice, his eyes dark with emotion. "Beautiful and perfect -- like this rose."

He leaned slowly toward her, and she had a flashback to the day before. But this was Malcolm, not Major Reed. His lips were warm and gentle, and remained gentle with none of the terrifying, forceful insistence of Major Reed. The only parts of their bodies touching were their lips; she still held the rose in her hands between them. She sensed that Malcolm wouldn't do anything she didn't want him to do.

She almost cried out in disappointment when he broke the kiss. She opened her eyes to find him gazing searchingly at her. "What...what was that about?" she managed to ask.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said. "It just never seemed to be the right time or..."

She smiled tremulously as he trailed off. He looked like he was having second thoughts. Not that she had minded the kiss, but she was still confused and upset by what had happened here the day before, and Malcolm's revelation had taken her by surprise. He was the last person she would have expected to act in such a romantic manner.

She was more off-balance now than when she'd almost succumbed to Major Reed -- before that lout had shown his true colors, that is. Malcolm, on the other hand, was a perfect gentleman, as well as her friend. She owed it to herself, and to him, not to rush into anything.

She reached out and touched his arm. "I'm very flattered, Malcolm. And I'd like to...explore this further. Just...not tonight. And not in here." Her eyes shining, she begged him silently to understand.

He drew a deep breath and nodded curtly. "I shouldn't have done it," he said.

"No!" she cried. "I'm glad you did. It was a wonderful kiss," she added softly, lifting the rose to caress her lips. "But it probably would be best for now if I went to my cabin...alone. We both need time to think."

She gave him a smile, full of promise for the future. It took all her will power to turn, the rose still in her hand, and leave the hydroponics bay.

* * *

Malcolm waited a few moments to give Hoshi time to reach the turbolift and go on her way. She was right. It had been a wonderful kiss. Her sweet response had ignited something in him that he knew would need to be quenched at the same time as it had triggered an even greater desire to protect her. 

It was ironic to think that he had Major Reed to thank for this. If it hadn't been for the man's cad-like behavior with Hoshi, Malcolm would never have been motivated to let her know how he felt about her.

She hadn't turned him down. She'd only indicated she wanted some time, not only for her to think about it, but for him to be sure this was what he wanted. She had taken the rose with her, which he took as a good sign. He hoped the rose lasted a long time. Every time she looked at it, she'd be reminded of him.

With a smile, he clipped another rose to take with him -- to remind himself of Hoshi -- before he left the hydroponics bay.

* * *

Reed straightened up from where he'd been in concealment behind some flowering shrubs. It was about time that other Malcolm Reed had left. The man obviously wasn't in his class. He never would have taken such a rejection so readily. 

He couldn't believe his good fortune that he'd happened to slip into the hydroponics bay when he'd heard the turbolift door open on this deck. That it had turned out to be Hoshi arriving had been a pleasant surprise. He had felt the first stirrings of arousal as he'd watched his nemesis kiss her. He had to admit the rose was a nice touch.

As he waited to give his double a few minutes' head start, he realized that the man had made his task easier. He'd softened up the communications officer for him. Now all he had to do was make his move. He'd already checked the crew billeting on an open console he'd come across during his wandering tonight. He knew exactly where her cabin was.

He stepped out into the corridor, reminding himself that he'd have to put on an act to get in her cabin. The few crewmen who had already seen him in this guise hadn't noticed that he wasn't what he appeared to be, but he hadn't spoken to them, only nodded in passing. He'd have to be convincing to fool Hoshi.

* * *

Hoshi put the rose in a glass of water and placed it on her dresser. Then she sat down on her bunk and, hugging her pillow, stared at the rose. 

She'd had no idea Malcolm felt that way about her. While she'd had the occasional fantasy about him -- she was only human, after all, and he was an attractive man -- she'd never considered it possible for there to be anything between them. They were both professionals, experts in their chosen career fields. They had become friends. She'd never thought there would be anything more. Relationships aboard starships could be tricky. Look at what Trip and T'Pol had been through, she told herself. She believed those two still weren't sure exactly what their relationship was.

But after that kiss in the hydroponics bay, Hoshi was rethinking her feelings about Malcolm. Yes, she was attracted to him, but she'd never acted on it. With a flash of insight, she realized perhaps that was why she'd been so intrigued by Major Reed. He looked like Malcolm. He sounded like Malcolm. When he'd shown an interest in her, she'd responded as if he were the Malcolm of this _Enterprise_.

She hadn't taken into account that he wouldn't act like Malcolm. It had been a rude awakening.

But apparently her indiscretion had prompted Malcolm to tell her how he felt. Did he think that, down deep, she harbored feelings for him? She laughed out loud and smacked herself in the head with the pillow. She did have feelings for him. It only took an insane, embarrassing, wonderful series of events to make her aware of it. Now that she was back in her cabin and had had a few minutes to think about everything, she wished she hadn't left Malcolm in the hydroponics bay.

The door chime interrupted her thoughts. Glancing at the chronometer on her desk as she rose to go to the door, she wondered who'd be coming by her cabin at this time of the evening.

* * *

Hoshi's cabin door opened after he rang the chime. She looked startled to see him, but not afraid. 

"Malcolm, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Reed's altered appearance had passed this first test with her. He shrugged and smiled charmingly. "I just had to see you one more time before I turned in," he said. "I think I need another kiss before I can go to sleep."

Hoshi appeared flustered. Apparently the Malcolm Reed of this universe wouldn't bother a lady after being so graciously refused just a short time earlier. He reminded himself that this Hoshi was nothing like the one with whom he was acquainted, and he'd have to act accordingly. This Hoshi was a lady, and she would have to be treated like one. That was where he went wrong the first time he'd been alone with her. He'd expected her to react to him the way the other Hoshi had in the past.

"Please," he said when she hesitated, and was rewarded with a slow smile from her. One hand still on the door jamb, she leaned toward him. This wouldn't do, he realized. "Ah, not out here." He glanced down the corridor. "Anyone passing by might, ah, you know."

She laughed softly and he knew he'd come up with the proper tactic. Apparently his counterpart had a certain image to maintain in public. After a moment, she stepped back and allowed him into her quarters. He stepped over the threshold and, as he turned his back on her to shut the door, smirked in triumph.

* * *

Malcolm made a detour past Reed's quarters before going to his own cabin. Just because he was preoccupied with this recent development with Hoshi didn't mean he'd shirk his duties. A relationship with anyone would be out of the question if it interfered with his responsibilities. 

Two MACOs were standing on either side of the door as he approached. "Winchester, Logan," he greeted them. "All quiet?"

Winchester, the senior MACO of the pair, nodded and said, "Yes, sir. Nothing to report." With a wry expression, he added, "I almost wish something would happen."

Malcolm chuckled. "He's been keeping to his quarters, I take it."

"Yes, sir. He had dinner in the mess hall, then came straight back here."

Malcolm considered ringing the chime to check on Major Reed, but decided against it. He'd only get in an argument and warn the man again to keep his distance from Hoshi. The only thing that would accomplish would be to ruin his good mood.

"Carry on," he told the MACOs and strode off down the corridor.

As Malcolm disappeared around the curve in the corridor, Winchester said to Logan, "He's really paranoid about this. Either that or he doesn't trust us."

"Wouldn't you be paranoid if there was someone around who looked just like you? And just because he asked for a status report a couple hours ago and now comes by here doesn't mean that he doesn't trust us," Logan pointed out.

"Yeah, but having me check the ventilation controls? That seems a bit strange," Winchester said, "especially since I told him you were on your break at the time."

"But you only were away for...what? Two minutes?"

"You're right." Winchester tilted his head toward the cabin door. "He couldn't have snuck out in that time. I was just around the corner at the access panel. Besides, someone would have reported him walking around without us if he'd left. ... Did you notice the lieutenant had a flower in his hand?"

* * *

It was all Reed could do not to forcibly strip the clothes from Hoshi and toss her on the bed. Even so, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this turned on by an encounter with a woman. Perhaps there was something to be said for moving slowly. The clean scent of her skin and hair, the supple texture of her lips under his, the press of her body against his -- he groaned as she shifted on her feet and her hands moved up to hold his head. Her response was quite a switch from her rejection of him in the hydroponics bay. 

He had just slipped a hand between them, intent on pulling down the zipper of her uniform, when the comm panel in her cabin beeped, followed by the Vulcan first officer's voice. _"Bridge to Ensign Sato."_

Reed bit back a curse as Hoshi pulled away. "Don't answer it," he growled.

Hoshi stared at him a moment, then laughed. "Quit teasing me, Malcolm," she said. "You know I have to answer it."

He watched through hooded eyes, trying to hang on to his borrowed persona, as she took two steps over to her desk and thumbed the respond button. "Sato here."

_"Ensign, we're picking up an unusual signal. Your presence is needed on the bridge."_

"On my way," she said and cut the connection.

She was a lot more professional than her counterpart, Reed had to admit. The Hoshi in his universe would have told the Vulcan to take a flying leap. He consoled himself that, while he may not have gotten everything he wanted, he now knew he could pass for this _Enterprise's _tactical officer.

"I have to go," she said, taking a step toward the door. She smiled as she started to move past him, but stopped and frowned. "What happened to your rank insignia?"

His hand involuntarily went to the collar of his appropriated uniform. "They're in my quarters. I was getting ready for bed and had already taken them off when I got this crazy idea to come see you," he said, forcing what he hoped was a convincing smile.

"I'm glad you did. I'm sorry about the interruption. I'll see you tomorrow, won't I?" she asked as he smoothed his hair into place and preceded her to the door.

Unable to come up with a convincing answer to that question, he smirked suggestively, and then smiled as a blush stole up her cheeks.

* * *

Bloody hell! She'd noticed he didn't have any rank insignia bars. As Reed strode back toward his cabin, he realized he'd been lucky to come up with a plausible explanation for that lack on a moment's notice. But he'd have to have the metal bars on his collar next time he was with her, or anyone else, in this guise. 

He wasn't sure there would be a next time with her, though. Depending on how things went, he might attempt a return visit. She eventually could make a passable kept woman, but he didn't have that kind of time to invest in her, although the consideration of such a task was pleasant enough.

He wasn't too worried about retribution for his deception with her, either. Given her disposition, if she did realize that she'd been with him, she might be too embarrassed to tell anyone -- especially his double.

Instead of taking the turbolift, he climbed down the access ladder to D deck where his cabin was located. Before he set foot on that deck, however, he took a moment to compose himself. With one last pass of his fingers through his hair to make sure it continued to resemble his counterpart's style, he set off for his cabin.

"Logan, Winchester," he greeted the two MACOs. "Take off."

Winchester exchanged a puzzled glance with Logan. "Sir?" he asked.

"I'm going to stand the rest of this watch," Reed told him. When they didn't immediately move, he barked, "Get going!"

"Aye, sir," Winchester murmured. "But sir--"

Reed tried to quell him with a hard glare, but the man seemed determined to say something. "What is it, Winchester?" he asked.

"Don't you want a phase pistol, sir?"

Reed almost laughed. The man had just dropped an unexpected gift in his lap. Arching an eyebrow, he asked in his most superior tone, "Do you think I need one?" When the other man hesitated, Reed continued, "You're right, of course. But I don't want to go all the way back to the armory. Give me yours."

Winchester obediently unclipped the phase pistol from his belt and handed it over.

"Dismissed," he told the duo. He watched as they walked off down the corridor and out of sight around the corner before letting himself into the cabin.

He tucked the pistol under the pillow on the bunk and went into the bathroom to change clothes. He'd catch a few hours sleep, but first he'd set the alarm on the desk to wake him shortly before the guards' shift was due to change. Then, as Lieutenant Reed, he'd comm Winchester and tell him to get his butt back on duty. So what if the lieutenant wasn't there when Winchester arrived? The MACO would probably check on him, find he was here in his cabin just as he was supposed to be, and think nothing else of it.

There was a slight chance one of the now off-duty MACO guards would run into his double, and then Reed would be in trouble. There wasn't anything he could do about that. If he was found out, so be it. If he was lucky, no one would know he'd been out of his cabin impersonating one of this ship's officers.

Still, he couldn't pull this stunt too often, much as he might want to try his luck again with the delectable communications officer. Familiar with satisfiying his own desires, he knew he would want her at some point. But even these dense people would catch on sooner or later if he kept sneaking out by calling the guards away.

That he'd been able to fool one of the senior staff in close quarters -- very close, he thought with a smirk -- convinced him he could carry off an impersonation of the other Malcolm Reed. He was beginning to think it was going to be necessary. As far as he knew, no progress had been made on a way to send him back to his universe. He had no idea if it was even possible. With that in mind, Reed lay down on his bunk, running scenarios in his head. Did he want to do a runner and seek his fortune elsewhere, or did he want to take over _Enterprise_? A sly smile crossed his face as he contemplated the possibilities.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Malcolm entered the mess hall for breakfast and saw Hoshi sitting by herself at a table near one of the windows. He also saw Major Reed, greasy hair glistening under the mess hall lights, at another table across the room. The man was accompanied by two MACOs. After a long glare at Reed, Malcolm studiously avoided looking in that direction.

He picked out a plate of pancakes and, turning from the serving cabinet, sought out Hoshi again. She gave him a smile as his eyes met hers. Taking that as an invitation, he wended his way between the tables to join her. It was good to know that she wasn't going to avoid him while she was trying to make up her mind. He'd been a little worried about that after she'd left him in the hydroponics bay.

"Good morning," he said. He sat down and placed a napkin on his lap.

"Good morning," she replied brightly with shining eyes, her hands cradling a cup of tea.

He sliced off a bite-sized piece of pancake with his fork. She was still smiling when he looked up. "You're in a good mood," he noted.

She snorted into her cup. "I would think you would be, too, after last night," she said, raising one eyebrow suggestively.

Malcolm paused, the fork midway to his mouth, to stare at her. Last night, she'd seemed unready to start anything. But the way she was acting now... Perhaps she'd had enough time to think about it, although in his experience, most women who said they wanted more time meant a lot more than a few hours.

"You've decided?" he asked.

Hoshi frowned. "I'd thought I made that clear. I asked if I'd see you today."

Mentally replaying their brief conversation in hydroponics, he didn't recall her saying she wanted to see him today. "You did? I don't remember," he said around a piece of pancake in his mouth.

For a moment, she looked hurt and confused. Then a shifty gleam came into her eyes."Oh! I get it." She lowered her voice and leaned toward him across the table. "You don't want anyone to know. Tell you what -- you come by my cabin tonight after dinner. I can guarantee that you'll see a lot more of me than you did last night."

Malcolm watched in stunned fascination as she got to her feet. She gave him a wicked smile that sent a lance right to his groin. He managed to swallow his food without choking as he watched her hips swing as she left the mess hall.

* * *

Reed sniggered into his coffee cup as Hoshi left the mess hall. 

He was seated at a table eating breakfast with his two escorts when his double had shown up. He had watched interestedly as Malcolm had made his way over to Hoshi's table. The next few moments had been tense as he waited for their mutual misunderstanding to come to light. He'd been the one with her last night, not him, after all, and if they figured that out...but to his surprise, his ruse had apparently gone undetected. He even noticed that Hoshi had appeared to be coming on to the other man. The dolt had been too surprised to respond other than to go slack-jawed when she got up and walked away with a provacative swing of those curvy hips. It really was too bad about the terrible uniforms they made the women on this ship wear, Reed thought in disgust.

He was glad when she left the mess hall, however. The longer those two were together, the greater the chance that his impersonation would be uncovered. He would rather not be around if that happened.

His mind turned to more important matters. Maybe he'd find something useful today. He still had the phase pistol that he had been given by one of his escorts the night before. He couldn't believe they hadn't missed it. But for the time being, that was a weapon of last resort, and he wouldn't use it unless he absolutely had to.

"Let's go," he told the two MACOs. He was eager to return to his quarters. In circumventing the comm panel in his cabin to eavesdrop on the corridor, he'd learned some things about the systems on this ship. He was anxious try out a few ideas on the computer on his desk.

* * *

Hoshi smiled to herself as she headed to the bridge for her shift. So Malcolm wanted to keep it quiet, did he? She was agreeable to that, at least for a while. There was something about a secret affair that no one else knew about that was especially titilating. 

She was glad her first impression -- when Malcolm had acted like he didn't know what she'd been talking about -- had been wrong. Upon reflection, she'd realized acting in public like nothing was going on between them was simply his way of keeping it low-profile. That was so like Malcolm. Now if she could just do the same, she thought as she summoned the turbolift. A moment later, the door slid open to reveal there was already a passenger in the 'lift car.

"What happened to you last night?" Trip asked as she stepped in. "I turned around about halfway through the movie and you were gone. I let you pick that movie out to cheer you up, and then you cut out."

Hoshi grinned. "I was being cheered up someplace else."

"Oh?" asked Trip with a slow grin of his own as she continued to smile at nothing in particular. "Anybody I know?"

Hoshi demurely lowered her eyes. "I'm not telling," she said. "Why are you going to the bridge?"

"T'Pol's been working in the command center for something like two days straight. I figure she's got to be frustrated by now, trying to find out how Major Reed got here. She probably needs some distraction."

Hoshi laughed. "Good for you."

A slight blush rose in Trip's cheeks. "Yeah," he agreed.

The turbolift door slid open. Hoshi stepped out, a spring in her step as she headed for her station. Behind her, Trip grinned again as he headed for the command center.

* * *

Malcolm was distracted. He'd been that way a lot recently, being preoccupied with the presence of Major Reed and trying to figure out how he'd gotten here and, more importantly, how to send him back. Right now, however, his distraction was much more enjoyable. His thoughts kept returning to that naughty expression on Hoshi's face right before she'd left the mess hall this morning. Needless to say, he wasn't getting very far going over the transporter shield enhancement specs at his work station in the armory 

A prickle of doubt would occasionally surface to send unsettling ripples through his pleasant daydreaming. Malcolm wasn't entirely certain he'd understood Hoshi correctly this morning, although her comments about seeing him tonight implied otherwise. He could only conclude that she'd thought about what he'd proposed and had decided in his favor -- very much in his favor. He knew he had a silly grin on his face, but at the moment, he didn't care.

As he called up another simulation T'Pol had devised, his thoughts strayed off in another direction. He shouldn't show up empty-handed tonight. Too bad he'd already given Hoshi that red rose. A token that was beautiful in its simplicity, it would be hard to top. Perhaps a bouquet, he thought. No, that was too much, but perhaps another single rose in bloom.

"Bloom," he said out loud. In his mind, he kept hearing the word over and over. Bloom. What--?

He'd been staring at a graphic of one of the simulations Trip and T'Pol had run on the shield-enhanced transporter particle stream while he'd been thinking about the rose he'd given Hoshi. This particular simulation showed a burst of energy from a storm such as Major Reed had said was taking place on the planet where he'd been. When it intersected with the transporter stream, it resembled the petals of a flower suddenly opening and spreading outward before collapsing back in on itself. A bloom!

Could a tremendous surge of energy, coupled with the properties of the shield enhancement, be enough to open a passageway between two universes? The enhancement might even have served to magnify the energy, causing the "bloom" which had led to Reed's being dragged into this universe.

Malcolm ran the simulation again, all thoughts of Hoshi gone as he realized he may have stumbled onto the answer. This wasn't his area of expertise, however. He reached over to open a comm link to T'Pol in the command center.

* * *

Reed hadn't gotten very far tampering with the computer console in his cabin before he was interrupted. He sneered derisively as the Vulcan first officer's voice came over the comm. _"Major Reed, report to the command center."_

He backed out of the program he hacked into and shut off the console. He hadn't been making much progress anyway. The only useful information he'd come across so far was that this _Enterprise _appeared to be in the analogous sector of space where his ship had been at the time he'd been yanked here. There was even a planet with the same name as the one he'd been on. At least they'd remained in the area since he'd come here and hadn't gone warping off somewhere. That, at least, showed some higher intelligence on their part.

He went to the door and, with a bland smile for his escort, stepped out. He'd gotten tired of baiting them and didn't bother to talk to them any more. He was willing to bet they were happy to have something to break the tedium of standing outside his cabin for eight hours. They no doubt had heard the comm announcement telling him to report to the command center since they didn't ask where he was going. They fell in behind him without a word.

Arriving on the bridge, he tried to catch Hoshi's eye as he went across the upper level to the command center entrance. She was busy working on something at her console, however, and, other than a cursory glance at him, she paid him no mind. Just as well, he mused as he sauntered by behind her. He might let something slip -- on purpose, because he was perverse that way -- about last night. He was tempted to do it just to see what her reaction would be. Sometimes anger could be turned to passion. And even if it didn't, he enjoyed a challenge. Only the knowledge that there could be repercussions if anyone found out he'd been impersonating one of the ship's senior officers stopped him. He might need that disguise again, and he'd be foolish to throw away such an advantage.

His double in this universe, along with the irksomely folksy engineer and the ice-cold Vulcan, were in the command center. All three looked up as he walked in.

"I'm here," he announced, adding condescendingly, "You may start now."

Just as he'd expected, his counterpart bristled. The engineer rolled his eyes. The Vulcan bitch remained impassive. She was much more controlled in this universe, he'd give her that. He wondered briefly if this Tucker was enamored of this T'Pol. Back home, Tucker couldn't keep his filthy hands off her. It was rather entertaining to observe her efforts to elude him.

"We have found something that may explain your presence here," T'Pol stated.

That caught Reed's attention, and he immediately stood straighter. "Yes?" he asked cautiously.

She nodded toward Malcolm, indicating he should present the information. He picked up a data padd, looked from its screen to one in the command center showing a representation of the transporter particle stream, and said, "Watch." He keyed in a command. Two thin red lines running parallel on either side of the stream appeared. "That's the shield enhancement," Malcolm explained. He pressed another key, and the transporter stream intersected with a swirling pattern. The pattern suddenly expanded, filling most of the screen, before falling back in on itself.

"The storm," Reed breathed softly, his gaze riveted on the simulation. "But what has that got to do with me? I wasn't near it."

"You were close enough," T'Pol said. She switched to another view of the simulation. "The storm had enough energy to affect the planet's electromagnetic field. Since you were on the planet, you were within that EM field. When we utilized the shield enhancement on the transporter, that attracted the storm's energy -- how, we don't understand yet -- and the two universes 'touched' for a brief moment in one small location. A corresponding surge in our power usage was noted at the same time, and may have contributed to the sudden growth of the storm's energy."

Reed frowned. "If I hadn't been in transport at the time, would the crossover have happened?"

"Highly unlikely," T'Pol responded.

"It might be that it wasn't the storm that attracted our enhanced transporter particle stream, or vice versa," Trip put in, one hand rubbing his chin. "Maybe it was the conjunction of the two particle streams -- one with the shield enhancement and one without. Sort of like a positive attracting a negative."

"And the storm provided the necessary energy to make the two universes touch," Reed added, nodding his understanding. "That explains how I got here. But how are we going to duplicate that to send me back?"

There was a silence as the three _Enterprise _officers looked at each other. Trip shrugged and Malcolm pursed his lips. T'Pol turned to Reed and said, "We don't know."

Reed's thoughts were in a whirl. Maybe he ought to tell them that the planet he'd been had a counterpart in this universe. But then they'd want to know how he knew. He bit the edge of his lip, thinking of a way to present the information without giving away that he'd accessed data through the computer in his cabin.

"May I see a star chart of this sector?" he asked. "I have an idea."

His double looked like he was about to protest, but the Vulcan's steady gaze keep him in check. T'Pol took a step over to another console and put the chart on the main screen in the command center. Reed gazed at it for a few moments, then said, "It's just as I thought. This is your universe, correct?" In a softer voice as if to himself, he said, "Of course it is. You don't know what my universe is like." Then, more loudly, "Enlarge quadrant four-A."

T'Pol complied, and a closer view of a solar system with a solitary planet appeared on the screen. "That wouldn't happen to be Colandin, would it?" Reed asked.

"How do you know?" Malcolm asked suspiciously.

Reed, keeping his eyes on the screen, prepared to deliver the coup de grace of his act. "Because that's the planet in my universe that I was transporting from when you grabbed me." Turning to face the officers, he said with a straight face, "It seems our universes are more alike than we realized."

Any chance to speculate about that coincidence was forestalled by a page over the comm. _"T'Pol," _came the captain's voice. _"You're needed on the bridge. Lieutenant Reed also, if he's there with you."_

T'Pol looked at Malcolm, and they made for the door. Trip indicated with a jerk of his head that Reed should leave as well. By the time they stepped out of the command center, T'Pol and Malcolm were already at their stations on the bridge. When Trip stopped on the upper level to gaze at the viewscreen, Reed stopped next to him. The major quirked an eyebrow at the sight displayed there. A Klingon bird of prey hung suspended in space, the only sign of life its dim running lights.

"Their life support is out," T'Pol reported from her station.

From the communications console, Hoshi put in, "They aren't responding to our hails. But the ship is the source of that coded signal we picked up last night. I'm sure of it."

Jon, seated in his chair in the command well, leaned forward. Putting an elbow on one knee, he rubbed his chin. "Any life signs?" he asked.

"Four," T'Pol responded promptly. "Weak, but stable."

Jon grimaced. "Looks like we'll have to send a party over to see what the problem is."

"The Klingons aren't going to want our assistance," Malcolm put in from the seat at his station.

"What else is new?" Jon said with a rueful smile as he turned his chair to face his tactical officer. "Let's get a team together and go over in a shuttlepod." Getting to his feet, he added, "T'Pol, you have the bridge."

Reed, who had stepped back to stand unobtrusively at the rear of the bridge, wasn't overlooked. Malcolm paused on his way to the turbolift and gestured for the MACOs to escort his double off the bridge.

It was too much to hope they'd forgotten about him, Reed realized. Much as he wished to stay and observe the command structure and its interactions on this ship, as long as his counterpart was around, that wasn't going to be possible. The man didn't trust him. Reed didn't blame him in the least.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: Argh! Ever have one of those weeks? Sorry I've been a little slower posting than usual, but I will -- hopefully -- continue to post in a timely manner. Of course, it's my own fault because I've got you all spoiled. You're used to having a chapter every day from me. Thanks to those who have left reviews. I appreciate it!

CHAPTER 10

After the meeting in the command center and the discovery of the damaged Klingon ship, Reed had spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon pacing his quarters. He could use the current situation to his advantage. All he needed was a little information.

If these Klingons were anything like the ones in his universe, he knew how to handle them. The ones with whom he was familiar were all bark and no bite, their teeth safely muzzled by the might of the Terran Empire. They could be formidable foes, but if they were your allies or subjects, you had a powerful force on your side. He needed to find out about the Klingons in this universe, however, so he set out at dinnertime to gather information.

The food here was better than back home, and he took his time selecting something to eat in the mess hall. All the while, he considered how to insert himself at Hoshi's table. He'd seen her seated with two other people when he'd walked in. He decided to drop all the clever lines and just be honest. He was curious. He couldn't be blamed for that.

She saw him coming and was watching warily. Reed restrained a leer as he recalled his interrupted interlude with her the night before. "May I join you?" he asked politely. She hesitated, and he looked toward the window, outside of which the Klingon ship could be seen. "I was curious about a few things, if those are really Klingons."

She indicated with a graceful gesture of her hand that he should be seated. Over his shoulder, he said to his MACO guards, "I guess you'll just have to enjoy dinner without me tonight." The two guards moved off, but not before one of them gave him a long stare. The message was clear -- they'd be watching him. They took seats at the next table.

Reed sat down as Hoshi introduced her companions, neither of whom had counterparts on his ship. Liz Cutler was a crewman who worked in the sciences. Travis Mayweather he remembered seeing on the bridge. He wasn't particularly interested in Cutler but, out of habit, gave her a cursory once-over that lingered on her assets. He was rewarded by seeing a faint pink tinge rise in her cheeks. Meanwhile, across the table, Travis was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and cautiousness. The helmsman was a strapping young man, but Reed didn't doubt he could take him in a fight. Travis looked like the type who would fight fair; Reed most certainly did not.

"What do you want to know?" Hoshi asked.

"The Klingons where I come from are nasty brutes," he said as he picked up his fork. "Are they like that here?"

Hoshi tilted her head to gaze out the window at the damaged ship. "They're pretty much the same here. They don't get along with anyone, sometimes not even with each other."

Reed took a bite of lasagna, savoring the blending of flavors. Definitely better than back on his ship. If only there was a nice red wine to go with it. "It took the Terran Empire a long time to bring them in line," he remarked casually.

"In line?" Travis asked. "You have an alliance with them?"

Reed shook his head. "Of course not. They've been loyal subjects of the empire ever since we conquered them."

Shocked silence greeted his comment. He'd made a mistake, he realized. These people wouldn't dream of conquering anything. Trying to bridge the awkward moment, he said, "I take it you don't have any kind of alliance with them."

"No way," Travis said, shaking his head. "We've had our share of run-ins with them, though. In fact, they have a price on Captain Archer's head. He even was a prisoner in their penal colony at one time."

Reed's eyebrows shot up at that. He could imagine what the Klingon version of a prison would be like. "How your captain survive that?"

"Actually," Travis said with a grin, "you broke him out. Well, not you, but our Lieutenant Reed."

"Travis--" Hoshi said warningly, but the helmsman paid no heed.

"And then there was the time Lieutenant Reed was surgically altered to look like a Suliban to rescue both me and the captain from a detention center run by a species who were fighting the Suliban."

Reed's estimation of his counterpart went up. He'd had no idea his other was so good at subterfuge. To slip unscathed in and out of not one but two different prisons took a lot of finesse. This was all very interesting, but he wasn't finding out the information he needed. He steered the conversation back to his course. "Klingons are a bunch of bullies where I come from. I've found that if you stand up to them, show them who's in charge, they back down," Reed said.

Travis nodded. "Yes, that's pretty much them. But you have to be able to back that up." He looked at Hoshi. "Remember that time we came upon those miners and some Klingons were taking most of their deuterium? Once the miners could stand up to them -- with our help -- the Klingons left them alone."

Interesting, indeed. Klingons appeared to be the same here as they were back in his universe. "I imagine the ones you found today weren't too pleased about being helped by humans," he said.

"Of course not. They're Klingons," Hoshi said. She snorted delicately. "Basically, it just comes down to outshouting them."

Reed nodded. He knew just how to handle them. "Are they still on their ship?"

"No, they're all in sickbay," Travis told him. With a laugh, he added, "I'm surprised you didn't hear them on your way in here. Sickbay's only just down the corridor."

* * *

Hoshi wished they'd all leave and let her finish her meal in peace. Reed being so close was disturbing, especially since when he'd walked in, she'd been thinking about Malcolm. Not only did he look like Malcolm, but his voice was exactly like Malcolm's, too. If she wasn't looking at him, she didn't know if she could tell by listening which man he was. 

Travis wasn't helping. His making conversation only encouraged the other man to talk. She'd also seen Liz looking at her, wondering at her preoccupation, but she wasn't about to tell her about Malcolm yet, especially with a man who looked just like him sitting at the same table. She wasn't going to say anything in front of snoopy Travis, either; half the ship would know before the next shift change if she did.

Her mind kept wandering as the others talked. She still hadn't decided if she'd wear her uniform when Malcolm came by her cabin or greet him at the door in something wickedly seductive. The former might give him the impression she just wanted to be friends; the latter might be too forward too soon in their relationship. She decided something in between the two extremes would be best.

Too bad Malcolm was busy right now with the Klingons in sickbay. He was making sure there were appropriate security arrangements. But he'd comm'd her right before dinner, letting her know that he'd come by her quarters at 2100, if that was all right with her.

Of course it was all right with her if he came by her cabin. She'd invited him. Malcolm was so sweet, and such a proper gentleman. But tonight was sure to be different. She'd see to that. Hopefully, there would be no interruptions, either. She smiled, unaware that others at her table were watching her.

A gentle touch on her arm brought her wandering mind back. Liz was looking at her in concern.

"Sorry," Hoshi mumbled. "I was thinking about something else."

Hoshi looked away from Liz's curious gaze to find Reed smirking at her. She felt herself flush. If she didn't know better, she'd swear he knew what she'd been thinking about. That was preposterous, she told herself. There was no way he could know.

* * *

Malcolm left sickbay, confident the Klingons wouldn't cause any trouble. He'd stationed two MACOs outside sickbay, and had one of his own security staff inside to keep an eye on things. 

All four Klingons had been injured, but it was nothing they wouldn't survive. The engine on their ship had had a major problem and, despite having been knocked around, they'd managed to halt a cascade that could have escalated to a warp core breach. In the process, however, they'd lost propulsion as well as environmental controls. By the time _Enterprise _had found them, all four were unconscious from lack of breathable air.

As far as Malcolm was concerned, they could stay that way until they could be put back on their ship and sent on their way. Doctor Phlox had assured him he'd keep sedatives at the ready, in case any of them woke up in a fighting mood. Knowing Klingons, that was entirely possible.

Malcolm strolled down the corridor, happy to turn his thoughts to something more pleasant. All day long he'd alternated between excitement and nervousness at the prospect of seeing Hoshi this evening. Her abrupt about-face in her response to his proposal in the hydroponics bay had been startling, to say the least. He would have thought she take at least a few days to consider it.

Even if he was willing to believe she'd made up her mind that quickly, her sudden intensity in the mess hall this morning had taken him by surprise. Despite his nervousness, he smiled. He may have a real tiger on his hands. Hoshi could come off as mild and meek, but the way she'd acted this morning was anything but.

He still had some time before he was to meet her. He could get cleaned up, then make a quick detour by hydroponics to obtain another rose before going to her cabin.

* * *

"Nothing seems to be amiss," Phlox said as he shut the medical scanner and looked at his patient. "You're perfectly healthy. A mild analgesic should do the trick." 

Reed, who had been about to suggest that his alleged headache was the result of incompatibilities between his universe and this one, stopped himself. He'd come to sickbay to take a look at the Klingons, nothing more. Hence, the faked headache. The last thing he needed was for the doctor to keep him in sickbay to run more tests. Thinking quickly, he said, "It has to be frustration." He sighed deeply and sat up on the biobed. "While your ship is very pleasant, I much prefer my own."

Phlox nodded sagely. "Of course. This has to be wearing on you. But I'm sure Commanders T'Pol and Tucker are doing all they can to find a way to send you home."

Reed shrugged noncommittally. The Vulcan officer informed him every day of their progress, if it could be called progress. True, there had been some excitement earlier today when a connection had been made between the storm on the planet where he'd been and the shield enhancement to this _Enterprise's _transporter. The Vulcan ice princess was probably still holed up in the command center, poring over data from the simulations. He didn't know for sure; they wouldn't let him linger there. They'd call him in, ask a few questions, and then dismiss him as if he was of no importance. He felt his temper start to rise as he thought about this cavalier treatment, but he quickly reined it in. If the positions were reversed, it was doubtful the Malcolm Reed of this universe would still be alive if he'd been dragged onto an Imperial starship.

As it was, it galled him that he was basically sitting around doing nothing. If this _Enterprise's _crew was making no headway on sending him back, he hadn't been advancing his situation any, either. He'd eavesdropped on his guards, and he'd had an interesting foray around the ship the last night, including a much too brief encounter with the communications officer. He bit back a curse as he realized that his double was no doubt benefiting from his softening up Hoshi at this very moment.

"Is something wrong?" Phlox asked.

Reed realized the Denobulan, hypospray in hand, had been studying him closely. He suddenly remembered a time when he'd been injured in a firefight, and had woken in sickbay to find the Doctor Phlox of his universe smiling sadistically down at him. Repressing an urge to spit in the man's face, he slid off the bed with an insincere smile. "Nothing that being returned to my universe -- and a painkiller -- won't fix," he lied as he tilted his head for the hypospray.

"Of course," Phlox said. He injected the hypospray's contents into Reed's neck and moved away, much to Reed's relief. This Denobulan was just as creepy, although in a different manner, as the one with whom he was acquainted. For one thing, this Phlox smiled too much.

Reed took a last look at the Klingons where they were lying sedated behind privacy curtains. Their bodies dwarfed the biobeds on which they were lying. Klingons appeared to be large no matter what universe they were from.

The MACOs fell in behind him as he left sickbay. Reed didn't bother to speak to them; he was already busy formulating a plan. Four Klingons ought to be enough for what he had in mind.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. And in answer to one of the questions posed -- yes, there was a Travis Mayweather in the mirror episode on TV. However, the Reed in this story isn't from that exact same mirror universe. I had thought about it, but he really wasn't as clever as I needed to him to be for this story. That Reed struck me more as a "shoot first and think things through later" type of guy. Hence, the Reed in this story is from a mirror universe, just not the one we got to see in the series.

CHAPTER 11

Malcolm paused outside Hoshi's cabin to run a hand through his hair to make sure it was neat before he rang the chime. As he waited for Hoshi to open the door, his nervousness increased. He cast a glance down the empty corridor, then shook his head at his own foolishness in hoping that no one saw him here.

So what if someone saw him entering her cabin? He sometimes had to visit crew quarters for one reason or another. Then a thorn pricked his thumb, reminding him that he was holding a rose, and he knew anyone who saw him would figure out this wasn't a business call. It wasn't like other crew members didn't form attachments, he reassured himself. Trip and T'Pol's on-again, off-again relationship immediately sprang to mind. That particular pairing, however, only served to make him admit that some onboard relationships were questionable, if not unwise. But that wouldn't be the case with him and Hoshi. He'd make sure of that.

He'd just managed to prop up his crumbling confidence, already battered by a long day of anticipation, when the door slid open. He felt a protective surge as he took in Hoshi's uncertain expression despite the smile on her face, and his own nervousness started to fade. They were as bad as two teenagers on a first date. The comparison made him relax. They were both adults, and had known and worked with each other for years. They had a solid friendship based on trust and respect upon which to build a more intimate relationship. Everything would be all right.

"May I come in?" he asked.

Hoshi dipped her head and stepped back. She was wearing loose trousers and a silky-looking red shirt which opened at her throat. He hadn't thought to change out of his uniform; he hoped she didn't mind. He glanced down and saw her feet were bare. "Am I early?" he asked.

She followed his gaze and the tension was broken when she laughed and curled her toes under as if to hide them. "Ah, no. I like to go barefoot in my cabin."

There was silence for a moment as they gazed at each other before Malcolm remembered his gift. He held out the rose. "I brought you another," he said.

"Thank you. It's lovely." Hoshi took the rose from him and, closing her eyes, held it under her nose to smell its perfume. Malcolm recalled the evening before when she'd done the same thing in the hydroponics bay. He was transfixed as she sighed appreciatively. The spell wasn't broken until she opened her eyes, went over to her dresser, and placed the rose carefully in a glass of water with the one he'd given her yesterday.

When she turned back to face him, he cleared his throat. "What would you like to do?" he asked.

A smile that could only be described as impish slowly curved her lips. It appeared Hoshi's nervousness had disappeared as well. "What if we pick up where we left off last night when we were interrupted?" she suggested.

Interrupted? Hoshi obviously was putting a different spin on last night than he was. He wouldn't call her leaving him in the hydroponics bay an interruption, but, seeing the light in her eyes, he wasn't about to quibble over semantics. Whatever she wanted to call it was fine by him. He was mesmerized as she toyed with the top button of her shirt as she moved slowly toward him.

"I seriously considered disabling my comm panel tonight," Hoshi said.

Malcolm watched, fascinated, as her fingers continued to tease the button. His throat was unaccountably dry. He had to swallow before he could speak. "You did?"

"Uh-huh."

She was within range now, so he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. The sensation was just as sweet as their first kiss in hydroponics. He groaned softly as she melded herself to his body, one hand still on the button on her shirt, the other slipping around his waist. His arms went around her as savored her response.

When he needed air, he broke the kiss and rubbed his cheek against her hair. Her hand between them finally abandoned the button on her shirt and turned toward him, her fingertips making small circles on the fabric of his uniform where it covered his chest. His eyes closed as he concentrated his other senses on what she was doing. "So, did you?" he asked.

Her fingers now busy teasing the zipper tab on his uniform, she asked, "Did I what?"

He smiled against her hair. "Disable the comm panel?"

A snicker, muffled somewhat because the side of her face was against his chest, came from her. "No, but I did manage to drop a few hints to T'Pol that there better be a pretty good reason if she pages me tonight. Being interrupted two nights in a row is too much for my fragile psyche to bear."

Malcolm was chuckling at her comment when the inconsistency of what she had said registered. He knew Hoshi had been called to the bridge last night, but that had been after they'd gone their separate ways from the hydroponics bay. "What were you doing last night when you got called to the bridge?" he asked curiously.

Hoshi snorted. "As if you don't remember! You were standing right where you are now when you told me not to answer T'Pol's page."

Malcolm's eyes snapped open as, grabbing her by the shoulders, he pulled back to look down at her. "What?" His eyes lost their focus as his mind raced. There was only one possible explanation that he could fathom for Hoshi believing he'd been in her cabin the night before.

"Malcolm?" Her plaintive voice brought his focus back to her.

"Hoshi, I wasn't with you in your cabin last night. After I left hydroponics, I went by Reed's cabin and checked on the MACOs, then I went to my own quarters. I didn't come anywhere near your cabin. I couldn't, not after you told me you wanted time to think about things."

"But, that means--" Hoshi gasped as she suddenly realized who had been in her cabin last night. Her mouth opened in wordless surprise.

"Did he hurt you?" Malcolm demanded.

"No!" she hastily assured him. "But I thought he was you. He said he needed..."

As her voice trailed off, Malcolm's eyes narrowed and his hands clenched so tightly on her shoulders that she yelped. He immediately released his grip and pulled her into his arms, but she felt stiff and unyielding. "That sorry bastard's going to wish he'd never been transported to this universe," he snarled. "What did he do?"

"Nothing!" Hoshi said shakily, disentangling herself from him and moving a step away. "He didn't do anything, other than kiss me. That's all he said he wanted. Another kiss."

"_Another_ kiss?"

She nodded vigorously as she began pacing back and forth. "I had only been in my cabin a few minutes. He came to the door, pretending to be you, dressed in a standard uniform--"

Malcolm uttered a curse.

"--and said he couldn't get to sleep unless he had another kiss. Malcolm, I swear I thought he was you! So I kissed him. And then T'Pol paged me about that signal, and I had to go to the bridge."

Hoshi's face had gone pale while she'd been speaking. Malcolm wondered if something more intimate would have occurred between her and Reed if hadn't been for T'Pol's page. By Hoshi's reaction, it was entirely possible that it would have. He seethed, silently damning Major Reed. If only he'd personally checked inside Reed's cabin when he'd gone by there last night!

Nothing had happened, he told himself as he tried to think rationally. He needed to find out how Reed had left his cabin, slipped past his MACO guards, and wound up in Hoshi's cabin. If Reed could fool Hoshi, there was no telling what other mischief he could get into.

"He had to have seen us in hydroponics," he said. "That's the only way he could have known that I'd kissed you." His temper immediately flared at the thought of Reed spying on them. Confinement to the brig was going to be only the first of what Reed had coming to him. Glancing at Hoshi, he saw her uncertainty in her defensive posture and wide, fear-filled eyes. Bloody hell! Of course she was wondering which Malcolm Reed he was. "Hoshi, I'm the Malcolm Reed you know."

Without missing a beat, she said, "Prove it."

He stared at her. "How?" he asked. "We're the same person, remember? His DNA is the same as mine. He'll probably have the same likes and dislikes that I do. His parents no doubt even have the same names."

"Shared experiences, then," Hoshi said. "Tell me something we both know about that couldn't possibly have happened to him."

They both went quiet, Hoshi pacing again, as they tried to think of something the other Reed wouldn't know. Malcolm noticed that her color was coming back, so much so that her cheeks had turned pink. "What?" he asked.

"Remember your first birthday on _Enterprise_?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, a slight smile gracing his lips despite his anger at his double. "A lovely pineapple cake served up in the armory, if I remember correctly."

Hoshi smiled faintly. "Before that."

Malcolm's brow furrowed as he tried to recall that time five years ago. "The captain, Trip and I had some beer to celebrate the successful installation of the phase canons."

"Before that!" Hoshi insisted.

"What else could there--?" Malcolm started, then stopped as he grinned widely at the memory. He now understood the reason for her blushing.

"Enchiladas!" they both said, and laughed. In trying to plan a surprise for his birthday, Hoshi's not-so-subtle questioning of him had led to a misunderstanding. She'd been trying to find out his favorite food; he'd thought she'd been making a pass at him when she offered to make enchiladas for him on the hot plate in her cabin.

Their burst of laughter quickly subsided, however. Hoshi said soberly, "I suppose it's possible that something like that happened on his _Enterprise_."

"But he wouldn't know that 'enchiladas' is our code word," Malcolm said. "If you aren't certain it's me, you just say 'enchiladas,' and I'll reply..." He paused to look around her quarters. His gaze found what he was looking for. "...hot plate." He turned to smile triumphantly at her, only to find her looking worriedly at him. "Now what?"

"I'm still not sure I know which one you are. How do I know you're not Major Reed, and we've just set up code words that he now knows and the Malcolm Reed who belongs in this universe doesn't?" she asked. She put a hand to her temple. "This is so confusing."

Malcolm stared at her in disbelief. "Hoshi! What more do I have to do to prove that I'm me?"

Hoshi looked at him forlornly, shaking her head. He took a step toward her, only to have her draw back. He stopped where he was, his hands at his sides, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "Hoshi, I'm the Malcolm Reed you've known for five years. I don't know what else I can say to convince you, other than..." He took a deep breath. What he was about to say he knew to be true; whether she would believe him was another matter. "...I love you, Hoshi." Her only reaction was her eyes opening wider. He swallowed his disappointment and said, "If you want me to leave, I will."

He was almost knocked off-balance as she launched herself across the cabin at him, her arms wrapping around his mid-section and her head coming to rest snuggly against his chest.

"I guess you believe I'm me," he murmured in pleased surprise as his own arms went around her.

At first, he thought the muffled sounds coming from her was crying. He took her chin in his hand to raise her face to his, and was startled to see her eyes crinkled with laughter.

"Of course I believe it's you," she gasped out. "I don't think that other Malcolm Reed could ever say what you just did, and with such sincerity."

"That I'd leave if you wanted me to?"

"No, silly." she said. "That you love me."

Malcolm didn't know what to say to that, so he kissed her. The kiss lasted precisely three seconds before they broke apart as if by mutual consent.

"Much as I'd like to continue this, we have a problem," Malcolm said ruefully.

"Right," Hoshi said, all business now. "How'd he get his hands on a uniform?"

"More importantly, how did he get away from the MACOs?" Malcolm asked. "And what else did he do while he was roaming around the ship?"

They looked at each other, pondering what Reed might have been doing.

"He's not going to get another chance to do it again," Malcolm said determinedly. "The first thing we need to do is check his cabin to see if he's there." He moved toward the door, Hoshi close behind after slipping on a pair of sneakers. Before they could leave, however, the comm panel beeped with the peculiar sound that indicated the message to follow was for the entire crew.

_"All hands to stations,"_ came Jon's voice. _"Repeat, all hands to your stations. Senior officers to the bridge."_


	12. Chapter 12

Author's note: Glad to hear everyone liked the last chapter. I thought you might. wink, wink

CHAPTER 12

Malcolm and Hoshi rushed from the turbolift onto the bridge. Hoshi's momentary discomfort about her non-regulation attire subsided somewhat when she realized that she wasn't the only one not in uniform. Travis at the helm was dressed in a sweatsuit; he must have been in the middle of a workout in the gym when the call for all hands to stations had been issued. Hoshi breathed a silent thanks that she hadn't been dressed in something more suggestive for her tryst with Malcolm.

The captain was seated in his chair in the command well, his attention focused on the main viewscreen. As Hoshi settled at her station, she took a closer look at the disabled Klingon ship on the screen. Apparently it wasn't as disabled as they'd thought, she realized as she noticed the glowing tips of its nacelles.

"All members of our repair crew are accounted for," T'Pol said from her science station. "They returned to _Enterprise _a short time before the Klingon ship powered up."

Jon frowned. "Hoshi," he said, "try to contact whoever's on that ship. Find out what the hell they think they're doing."

"Aye, sir," she answered and set about her task. As she worked, she listened to what was going on around her on the bridge.

Jon was still staring fixedly at the viewscreen when the comm panel on his armrest signaled. Thumbing the button, he said, "Archer here."

_"Sir," _came a voice Hoshi recognized as belonging to one of Malcolm's staff, _"the Klingons are gone from sickbay. We found Doctor Phlox, Ensign Foster, and the two MACOs locked in a storage room. None of them is hurt. But they all swear the person responsible looked like Lieutenant Reed."_

"Looked like?" Jon repeated.

_"They said he was in a regulation Starfleet uniform."_

"Understood," Jon said tersely and cut the connection.

"No response to our hails," Hoshi said.

Jon merely nodded curtly at her. He turned his chair to face Malcolm, whose features had hardened at the news that someone who looked like him was responsible for what had happened in sickbay. "It seems you were right, Malcolm. He should have been locked up in the brig," Jon said.

If there ever was a time someone could have said, "I told you so," this was it. Hoshi was proud of Malcolm when he simply dipped his head once in acknowledgement of the captain's admission of error, then briskly gave a report. "I'm not reading any indication that weapons are being armed, sir. The only system showing any power at all is their engine."

Jon turned back to the screen, a puzzled look on his face. "Maybe they just want to leave. Were repairs completed on their engine?"

This last was addressed to T'Pol, who replied, "Unknown. Commander Tucker has not yet reported in. He was in the last group of technicians returning from the Klingon ship. Captain, if the Klingons have returned to their ship, we have no reason to detain them if they wish to leave."

"They're not making any move to get underway," Malcolm put in from his station where he'd been monitoring the Klingon vessel.

"We still don't know why Major Reed was in sickbay, but he has to be up to something," Archer mused. "There's more to it than the Klingons wanting to go back to their ship."

Archer opened an internal channel on the comm panel on his chair. "Archer to Tucker." When there was no response, he repeated the call, with the same result. He pushed another button on the comm panel. "Archer to engineering. Trip? Are you there?"

* * *

Reed had set his plan in motion as quickly as possible. There really was no choice, not after he'd done some more rummaging around in the ship's computer system and had found the latest results of T'Pol's analysis of his transportation to this universe.

He'd been counting on the laxness of security aboard this ship to aid him, and he hadn't been disappointed. Of course, it hadn't hurt that he looked like this ship's chief of security. He'd waited until the shift change outside his cabin, and had then walked out in the guise of Lieutenant Reed -- complete with his purloined phase pistol strapped to his hip -- telling the new guards on duty that their "guest" was still inside. They'd actually taken his word for it. Then he'd made his way to sickbay, sauntering past the MACOs posted in the corridor outside. Upon entering the medical area, he had quickly stunned the unsuspecting Denobulan doctor and the other security guard stationed there. When the MACOs outside had rushed in at the sound of phase pistol fire, he'd stunned them as well.

The one Klingon who had been awake -- Captain Kruz of the disabled ship -- had watched the entire operation silently, his dark eyes glittering speculatively. Reed had quickly made a deal with him. In exchange for his assistance in taking over _Enterprise_, he'd offered him Captain Archer. From the conversation at dinnertime in the mess hall, Reed had learned there was a price on the man's head in the Klingon Empire. There was no better prize he could have offered to gain the Klingons' cooperation.

The other three Klingons had still been under the effects of sedation, but a few strong slaps soon roused them. Reed and the Klingons had slipped stealthily through the corridors. As stealthily as possible, that is, for their body armor had clanked as they moved along, making Reed grit his teeth in annoyance. After a short detour to the transporter alcove to send one of the Klingons back to his ship to provide a distraction, Reed and the others had continued on to engineering. The Starfleet crew members on duty there had been quickly overpowered.

It had taken less than thirty minutes to take control of the ship.

Reed, standing on the elevated platform for the warp engine controls, locked out navigation and helm on the bridge. One of the Klingons was attempting to block the long-range communications system so the command crew on the bridge couldn't send for reinforcements. Another of the Klingons was keeping watch over the six crewmen who'd been on duty when they'd stormed engineering. That group was huddled in a corner, two of them hovering over the unconscious form of the chief engineer. Decking Tucker had been almost as satisfiying as if he'd been the engineer with whom Reed was better acquainted. The mouthy Southerner had vehemently protested the take-over, and it was with no regret that Reed had shut him up with a well-placed chop to the neck. Stunning him with the phase pistol would have had the same result, but the physical release of striking Tucker had been so much more satisfying.

Now to carry out the rest of his plan. Reed checked various monitors and databanks, but was disappointed to find that this ship wasn't equipped to deal with intruders as effectively as an Imperial starship could. These people really were too trusting. There was no anesthizine gas, for one thing. He couldn't even secure bulkhead hatchways shipwide so that they wouldn't open to anyone else. He slammed his fist in frustration against the control panel. He'd have to wait until another Klingon ship showed up before he could finish taking over _Enterprise_. That would complicate matters, but he had no doubt he could still accomplish his goal. He had the engineering crew for hostages, and from what he'd seen of the humans in this universe, they wouldn't be willing to sacrifice their comrades.

He turned from the control panel to glare down at the main level. "Kruz!" he called out to the Klingon captain who was standing guard by the main entrance to engineering. "Call for another ship to assist us." When the Klingon hesitated, his forehead ridges furrowing in displeasure at orders issued by a human, Reed snarled and said, "Tell them you have captured the infamous Captain Archer. That ought to bring all the help we need."

Kruz snarled in return, but he moved toward the Klingon who was trying to jam communications at a panel off to one side of the engine. Reed was turning back to the warp controls when a beep came from the comm system. _"Archer to engineering. Trip? Are you there?"_

* * *

Trip didn't answer the page, and neither did anyone else in engineering, which was unusual. Malcolm was on his feet and heading for the turbolift, having summoned a detachment of MACOs to meet him outside engineering, even as Jon issued the order for him to go. Malcolm had one foot in the turbolift when the speakers on the bridge crackled to life, and he spun around to see his shock mirrored on the captain's face at the sound of his own voice coming over the comm.

_"I'm afraid your engineer won't be answering you any time soon, Captain Archer."_

Jon glanced toward Hoshi, who was already tracing the signal. "It's coming from engineering," she said.

"T'Pol," Jon said, "run an internal scan. Find out if the Klingons are with him."

_"Captain Archer? I know you can hear me. Your internal communications system isn't that much different from what I'm used to, and I'm sure your pretty communications officer keeps it in excellent condition."_

"There are a total of ten life signs in engineering," T'Pol said. "Seven are human, three are Klingon."

"One's missing," Jon said. "That must be who's on the Klingon ship. It was a diversion to keep us occupied while he took over engineering." The entire bridge crew knew who the captain meant by "he."

_"Really, Captain Archer. Am I going to have to start killing hostages to get your attention?"_

Jon, his finger hovering over the comm panel button to reply to this threat, said to Malcolm, "Go, but don't do anything until we know more about the situation. Just make sure he can't get out of engineering. Use communicators so we don't tip our hand by using the in-ship comm system."

"Aye, sir," Malcolm said, and stepped into the turbolift.

Jon depressed the comm button as the turbolift door slid closed and said, "This is Captain Archer. What are you trying to do, Major?"

A short burst of malicious laughter came over the speakers. _"Why, isn't that obvious? I'm taking control of your ship."_

"You know you can't possibly succeed," Jon argued. "You're one man against an entire crew. And even if you did succeed, what would you do with a ship on your own?"

_"I've given that a lot of thought. There hasn't been much else for me to do," _Reed said, his voice taking on a hard edge. _"I know you've been making progress on opening a portal to my universe, so I'm going to take your ship back and use it as my first command. The Klingons just happened to be handy tools."_

Jon slashed his hand across his throat, indicating to Hoshi that he wanted the channel muted. At Hoshi's confirming nod, he turned to T'Pol. "How does he know about that? I thought I'd made it clear that he wasn't to be apprised of that development until we were ready to send him back."

"One must assume he either overheard someone talking about it, or he has gained access to our computer database," T'Pol replied. She pushed a few buttons on her console, checked a readout, and added, "It appears to be the latter. The lockouts on computer access in his cabin have been overridden."

Jon stood to pace the command well. "Right now, we've got a standoff. He's got physical control over the ship as well as hostages, but he can't return to his universe without our assistance. I'll be damned if I let him take _Enterprise _with him." He paused. "What systems do we still control?"

"Environmental and weapons," T'Pol replied promptly.

Hoshi, one hand to the earpiece in her ear, put in, "Sir? He's becoming agitated that you're not responding."

"Put it back on speakers," Jon said as he resumed his seat in the command chair.

_"--expect your cooperation or I'll start killing the hostages, starting with your chief engineer."_

"What guarantee do I have that they won't be harmed?" Jon asked, picking up the conversation as if he hadn't been busy doing something else.

_"None, of course."_

"It seems we have no choice," Jon said, trying to stall for time. "What do you want us to do?"

_"At the moment, I don't want you to do anything,"_ Reed said. _"I want you to stay right where you are. That means the entire crew."_

Hoshi suddenly straightened in her chair and began working furiously at her console. "He's sending out a signal! I can't block it."

Jon quickly got to his feet and approached her station. Placing his hands on the rail, he asked, "What is it?"

Hoshi lifted her eyes from her work to meet his gaze. "He's calling for any Klingon ships in the vicinity to assist. He says that in return for their help..." She paused to swallow. "...he'll turn you over to them."


	13. Chapter 13

Author's note: Thank you to those who have submitted reviews. It really helps to get some feedback to let me know I'm doing OK with the story. Now, time to ratchet up the plot.

CHAPTER 13

Malcolm arrived outside engineering to find three MACOs keeping the main hatch under surveillance. "The other entrances?" he asked as he joined them.

"Covered -- three men at each one," replied Corporal McKenzie, the senior MACO of the group, using the clipped dialogue employed in hostile situations. "Instructions?"

"We wait and watch, and make sure they don't leave the area for other parts of the ship," Malcolm replied. "There's to be no communication using the ship's comm system. Issue a communicator to each detail."

A nod from McKenzie indicated her understanding. At a gesture from her, one of the other MACOs took off at a jog to obtain the communicators from an emergency supply locker. The other took up position a short distance down the corridor where he could lay down fire if anyone tried to leave engineering. McKenzie stayed with Malcolm, moving toward an alcove a few meters in the opposite direction. As they turned back to face the hatchway, the communicator that Malcolm had picked up on his dash to engineering signaled. He took it from his pocket and flipped it open.

_"Malcolm?" _came Jon's voice. _"They've called for other Klingon ships. We're going to have more company in the near future."_

"Acknowledged," Malcolm replied and shut the communicator. He traded a glance with McKenzie. "We need a plan to pry them out of engineering."

* * *

Reed had abandoned the warp control platform and was restlessly prowling the main deck of engineering. He had known this might happen. It didn't make it any easier to accept, however. Unable to totally secure the ship, his plan was stalled. He'd have to wait for more Klingons to arrive. 

Kruz was working at one of the panels that lined the side of engineering. Reed assumed that's where the communications tie-ins were located. He approached the Klingon and asked, "Anything?"

The massive Klingon, who towered over Reed by at least half a meter, turned to him with a growl. "Two ships have responded. The closest should be here in less than two hours."

A lot could happen in two hours, Reed thought disgustedly as he turned away from Kruz to resume pacing. There was no telling what the people on this ship might think of in that time. They may be gullible, but they weren't totally without intelligence. Were the situation reversed, there were any manner of things he could think of to overcome someone in a defensible, confined area in two hours. He wouldn't put it past his double to be planning something right now.

He turned back to Kruz, intending to tell him to work on disabling _Enterprise's _weapons, and was startled to find the Klingon right behind him. Reed was thinking how uncanny it was that Kruz could move soundlessly after all the clinking and clanking he and his men had made on the way here when the Klingon captain backhanded him viciously across the face.

Stunned by the blow, Reed fell to the deck. Kruz leaned over, divested him of the phase pistol, and, standing up, shouted something in Klingon over his shoulder. One his men lumbered over, grabbed Reed by the scruff of his neck, and hauled him to his feet. Dazed and swaying, Reed stared uncomprehendingly at Kruz.

"We are done with you," Kruz informed him with a sneer.

"What are you talking about?" Reed demanded despite the pounding in his head.

Kruz sneered again. "We no longer have need of your assistance. Do you think I would trust someone who turns on his own captain?" He spat on the deck in front of Reed.

Reed made to move forward, but the large hands of the Klingon who'd picked him up clamped down on his upper arms from behind, holding him in place. "He's not my captain! I told you in sickbay -- I'm from another universe and got pulled here in a transporter accident. I'm going to take over this ship and take it back to my universe, and you get Captain Archer and the rest of the crew." Reed paused to smirk. "Except for the communications officer."

Kruz burst out laughing. "Humans! Do you think we are stupid to believe such an incredible fairy tale? We will take both Archer and the ship." Kruz laughed once more, but then his expression hardened. "I do not trust someone who would turn on his own kind. You show no honor. You are not even worth the effort to kill." To the Klingon standing behind Reed, he ordered, "Dispose of him!"

"Wait!" Reed shouted angrily as he was forcibly marched toward the hatch. "You can't do this! You wouldn't have been able to do this without me!"

Kruz gave him a hard smile. "Yes, you did provide some small assistance. And we shall profit from it. This ship and its captain have long been sought by the Klingon Empire." Kruz's smile disappeared. "We have no need of the rest of its crew, including you."

One hand still firmly grasping Reed, the Klingon holding him used the other to open the hatch. With a mighty heave, he tossed Reed out into the corridor, slamming the hatch shut after him.

* * *

The barrel of every weapon in the corridor snapped up to aim at the body that came hurtling out of engineering. The blur of blue hit the deck with a thud, rolled several times, and slammed up against a bulkhead. The only thing that made Malcolm and the MACOs hold their fire was that the person was dressed in a Starfleet uniform. Then, when Malcolm realized who it was, he wished he had opened fire. 

With McKenzie right behind him, Malcolm moved out into the corridor, his phase pistol aimed at Reed where he was face down on the deck. The other MACO farther down the corridor remained in position in case any more surprises came flying through the hatchway from engineering.

Malcolm approached the prone form and nudged it with his foot. "Get up!" he said harshly.

A moan came from the form. "So you can kill me? Reed asked.

Malcolm nudged Reed harder. "We don't do that here," he said, adding under his breath, "much as I'd like to."

Reed slowly pushed himself up from the deck and got to his feet. An angry red mark on the side of Reed's face below one eye was an indication of a bruise in the making. Malcolm noticed that, although Reed was wearing a standard duty uniform, there was no rank insignia on the collar. "Corporal McKenzie," Malcolm said in an aside, "please remember that I'm the one with the lieutenant's pips -- and the pistol."

An amused snort came from the MACO, who kept her rifle aimed squarely between Reed's eyes. Malcolm checked his double for weapons. Finding none, he straightened and took a step back, and with a wave of his pistol, he indicated Reed should move down the corridor. At a word from Malcolm, McKenzie took up position again in the alcove. Malcolm prodded Reed with the barrel of his gun toward an intersecting corridor where, after turning the corner, Malcolm stopped.

"What the bloody hell do you think you were doing?" Malcolm demanded. "Do you have any idea the trouble you've caused?"

With a smirk, somewhat strained because of the blow to the face he'd taken from Kruz, Reed replied, "Actually, I do."

Malcolm's eyes narrowed and his finger tightened on the trigger of his phase pistol. The urge to stun the arrogant bastard was almost overwhelming. "I'm assuming you didn't do this out of sheer perverseness. What were you hoping to gain?"

"Didn't you hear me tell your captain?" Reed asked. "I want this ship, and I want to take it back to my universe."

"We were going to send you back--" Malcolm started.

"Did you bother to tell me about that fact?" Reed cut in heatedly. "No, I had to hack into your computer system to find out. You left me twiddling my thumbs while your crew worked on a solution. For all intents and purposes, I was a prisoner, kept in a cage that you called a cabin, and only allowed out with an armed guard. What else could I do with all my free time, other than try to work it to my advantage?" Reed's brief surge of anger subsided, only to be replaced by cool indifference. He shrugged, further infuriating Malcolm. "So it was a rather ambitious plan. That's the only kind worth attempting where I come from."

"We were going to send you back," Malcolm repeated, even as he realized that perhaps a mistake had been made in not keeping Major Reed better informed. Malcolm's distrust of the man had led Reed to be isolated with nothing to do but brood and scheme. If they'd made him more welcome, involved him more in the process of studying the transporter problem, would he have worked willingly with them and not tried this insane idea? If he'd been in Reed's place, Malcolm knew he would have done his best to find a way home, especially if the people around him didn't seem to trust him.

Then Malcolm remembered that Reed had impersonated him to get close to Hoshi, and he firmly believed that it wouldn't have mattered how they'd treated him. You couldn't change a lifetime of ingrained behavior in a few short days.

His musing was cut short as the deck rocked under his feet. He looked at Reed's face and saw confirmation of his own surmise. After all, the man was a security officer of sorts back in his universe, and he knew what weapons' fire felt like. _Enterprise _was under attack.

* * *

"The Klingon ship is recharging its weapons," T'Pol reported from her science station on the bridge. "Our hull plating is holding. We sustained minimal damage." 

Jon turned to the officer at tactical. "Return fire, phase cannons only. Try to knock out their weapons."

The officer acknowledged the order and fired the phase cannons. He glanced at a readout on the console in front of him. "No effect, sir."

"Travis?" Jon asked. "Any progress freeing up the helm controls?"

That young man shook his head. Jon could almost see the frustration radiating off him. "No, sir," Travis replied. "Still locked out."

Jon didn't understand why the Klingons were firing on them. As far as he knew, they still wanted him for alleged crimes against their empire. If they destroyed _Enterprise_, they'd lose him. The situation must have changed somehow, but he didn't know what that change was until the turbolift door slid open and two Malcolm Reeds dressed in identical uniforms stepped out. Jon jumped to his feet as he realized he wasn't certain which one was which.

Jon looked from one to the other, and hoped his officer was the one brandishing the phase pistol in a threatening manner toward the other. "Malcolm?" Jon asked.

Both replied, "Yes, sir."

This wasn't getting him anywhere. He couldn't assume the one with the pistol belonged to this universe. He wouldn't put it past Major Reed to have gained the upper hand.

From across the bridge, Hoshi called out. "Permit me, sir."

Jon nodded, not sure what she had in mind. He watched as Hoshi turned in her seat to face the two men. "Enchiladas," she said with a straight face.

Jon glanced back at the two men and saw a smile flit across the face of the one holding the weapon before he said, "Hot plate."

"That one's ours," Hoshi said with a wry smile.

Jon didn't want to ask what that was about. If his communications officer was sure, that was fine by him.

"Now that that's settled," Malcolm said, "I may have a solution to our predicament, sir."

"Incoming fire!" interrupted T'Pol, and the deck rolled under their feet once more. She checked her monitors and lifted her gaze to Jon, her eyebrows arched. "Again, minimal damage. They seem to be toying with us."

"They don't want to hurt us badly," Jon said. "They're just trying to soften us up." Over his shoulder, he said to the officer at tactical, "Return fire."

"No doubt Kruz wants to claim your ship for himself before the other Klingons arrive," said Reed.

Jon had no doubt from the disdainful tone that it was the major who had spoken. He noted that the pistol in Malcolm's hand never wavered from the point where it was aimed -- the small of Major Reed's back. "What's he doing on the bridge?" Jon asked Malcolm with a jerk of his head toward Reed.

"The Klingons threw him out of engineering," Malcolm replied. The slight smile that had marked his words faded. "We're going to need his help to take care of the Klingons before their friends arrive."

"You have a way to get them out of engineering?" Jon asked.

The two Malcolm Reeds exchanged a glance. "Yes, sir," said the one from this universe, "but you probably aren't going to like it."

"I _know _you're not going to like it," added Reed.

The Klingon ship didn't appear to be intent on inflicting serious damage; Jon reasoned he could spare a few minutes for a private discussion. "You two, in my ready room now," Jon said to the Malcolm Reeds. He headed in that direction, pausing long enough to order that _Enterprise _should fire only if the Klingon ship fired first again. And then, only to disable, not to destroy. If they obliterated the Klingon ship before more Klingon ships arrived, Jon was certain the newcomers wouldn't hesitate to blast _Enterprise _to atoms, no matter how badly they wanted him alive.

_Enterprise _and her crew had only been trying to assist a disabled Klingon ship -- how had it degenerated into this?

If he had any doubt which Reed was which, the smirk on one's face as he passed Hoshi on his way to the ready room erased that doubt. Jon didn't miss how Hoshi quickly averted her gaze, and how the other Malcolm's expression tightened in displeasure at this byplay.

Another author's note: In case you're curious, just two or three more chapters to go. ... I hope.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's note: I apologize for the longer delay in posting this chapter. I should never have started a story in May, it's such a busy time. But I will get this finished in a timely manner! Promise.

Thanks to those who have been reviewing -- it's a great boost to keep plugging away at the story. And I thought you'd like that the Klingons turned on Major Reed. It just seemed so fitting.

CHAPTER 14

The corridor outside the main hatch to engineering was quiet as Jon, Malcolm, and Reed stepped out of the turbolift. A team of MACOs was stationed down the hall. If all went well, the soldiers wouldn't be needed. If not, Jon didn't want to think about the possible carnage that might ensue.

In the hasty meeting in Jon's ready room, Reed had said the six crewmen being held hostage were alive and unharmed at the time he'd been thrown out of engineering. As far as Jon knew, however, Klingons weren't normally given to taking hostages. They were more likely to view such captives as unwanted encumbrances and get rid of them, usually in a very permanent manner. Jon was hoping the stalemate -- the Klingons in engineering but his crew in control of the rest of the ship -- would ensure the safety of the hostages for the time being. He wasn't particularly enamored of the plan that Malcolm and Reed had proposed, but with more Klingons on the way, they had to do something. Unfortunately, neither he nor Malcolm could think of anything better -- or saner.

Jon came to a halt in the corridor next to the comm panel nearest to engineering and paused to take one last look at the MACOs standing at the ready. He fervently hoped they wouldn't be needed to subdue the Klingons and free the hostages, but he'd given Malcolm orders to send the MACOs in if the plan failed.

"Changed your mind?" Reed asked mockingly, and got a sharp poke in his back from Malcolm's pistol.

Jon glared at Reed but didn't say anything. The man was utterly without remorse for all the trouble he'd caused. Jon almost wished the Klingons had killed him. Then he realized that his own counterpart in the parallel universe was probably just as bad as Reed, and more than likely would have killed Reed the moment he'd stepped onto the bridge after his failed coup attempt. Such savagery among humans was totally foreign to Jon, and he repressed a shudder of revulsion at what he might be like if he'd had to spend his entire life in Reed's universe.

Another blast rocked the ship. Jon silently cursed the Klingon taking potshots at them. A moment later came the unmistakable sound of _Enterprise _responding with its own phase cannon fire. He turned toward the comm panel, but before he could open a channel to engineering, a beep issued from the speaker grill. _"T'Pol to Captain Archer."_

Jon pushed the button to answer. "Go ahead."

_"Captain, our long-range scanners are picking up a Klingon ship on a heading for our position. It should arrive in approximately thirty-seven minutes."_

"They're early," Jon said, and looked accusingly at Reed. "We were supposed to have at least another hour and a half."

Reed shrugged. "Kruz must have lied. I'm not surprised."

_"There's something else, Captain," _T'Pol's voice said from the comm. _"Our sensors indicate there is another storm forming on Colandin. We may be able to recreate the conditions to send Major Reed back sooner than we'd believed possible. However, the energy from the discharge of weapons between Enterprise and the Klingon ship is disrupting electromagnetic fields in the area. That could interfere with any attempt to return Major Reed since the shield enhancement for the transporter utilizes an EM field. I have calculated that each discharge of a phase cannon or Klingon disruptor decreases the likelihood of a successful transfer between universes by three percent."_

Jon traded a look with Malcolm. They both knew _Enterprise _had taken no significant damage from the Klingon ship, which was basically just trying to bully them. But to not fight back, giving as good as you got, was a sign of weakness as far as Klingons were concerned. Not returning fire might only encourage them to try to do some real damage. "How often is the Klingon ship firing?" Jon asked into the comm.

_"Approximately once every four minutes,"_ came T'Pol's prompt reply.

Jon gritted his teeth. It was amazing to think that a solitary Klingon aboard a ship could do even that much. "From now on, do not return fire." Jon didn't miss Malcolm's sharp stare at this order, but it couldn't be helped. "Hopefully we'll have this situation resolved shortly."

T'Pol acknowledged the order and Jon signed off. He noticed that Reed's usual sardonic expression was absent, replaced by a look of fierce determination. That was good, because the major apparently understood how close he was to losing his chance to return home. That single factor might keep Reed in line.

"Let's get on with it," Jon said.

Malcolm nodded brusquely and moved over to a large cover panel on the bulkhead outside engineering. He quickly removed the cover and went to work rerouting functions.

Jon handed his phase pistol to Reed, who glanced at the settings and cracked it open to look inside at the power cell. "Just checking, you understand," Reed said with a touch of his old sarcasm. "I wouldn't put it past _my_ captain to give me a non-functioning weapon."

Jon smiled harshly as he reached for the comm panel. "I thought about it," he admitted. He glanced at the MACOs, who had Reed covered with their own weapons, and Malcolm, who gave him a curt nod. Everyone was ready. He opened a channel to engineering and gestured to Reed.

The major took a step closer to the comm panel and said loudly, "Captain Kruz. This is Major Reed. I must talk to you."

There was no response. Jon didn't expect there would be. The Klingons didn't want to talk to Reed. They'd made it clear they no longer had any need of him by tossing him out of engineering. Jon wondered if Reed realized how lucky he'd been not to have been killed once his usefulness to the Klingons had ended. Surely the Klingons in his universe weren't that different from those here.

Reed shifted impatiently on his feet and said harshly, "Kruz, you son of a targ. I have another deal for you -- one you can't turn down."

A growl came from the comm speaker. _"Be gone," _came Kruz's voice. _"You have nothing we want."_

"Ah, but I do," Reed contradicted him. "I have in my custody the captain of this vessel, and am willing to turn him over to you for certain concessions. Imagine what it would mean to your prestige, your honor, if you were to capture Captain Archer before your comrades arrive." Reed paused to give the Klingon time to think. "You most certainly would be promoted to something better than commanding a broken down bird of prey."

_"What concessions?"_

Jon could tell that Reed now had Kruz's interest, if only because the Klingon was willing to hear Reed out. All the major had to do was be sufficiently convincing so that the Klingons allowed him and Reed into engineering. Jon was already in the proper mode -- his uneasiness wasn't faked, but there was a strong undercurrent of righteous anger that was driving him to make this attempt to reclaim his ship and make it whole.

"Other than the captain, I know you have no need for the rest of the crew, which, as you so clearly pointed out, includes me," Reed replied. "All I want is a guarantee that you'll spare my life -- and let me take one of the shuttlepods."

_"Isn't there something else you want?" _Kruz asked, and Jon swore he could hear amusement in the Klingon's voice.

For a moment, Reed looked blank. Then a genuine smirk crossed his face. "Thank you for reminding me. Spare the communications officer's life as well, and allow her to leave with me in the shuttlepod."

Jon took a step toward Reed as a gutteral laugh sounded over the comm. If it weren't for the fact that they needed Reed's help, he'd throttle the man with his bare hands. One look at Malcolm, however, made Jon realize he probably wouldn't get the chance. There wouldn't be anything left of Reed by the time Malcolm got done with him, if the look on his tactical officer's face was any indication.

_"You say you have Archer. Get the communications officer, and bring both to us. Then enter through the main hatch to engineering."_

Jon reached over and stabbed the button to close the channel. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked Reed heatedly.

"There's no way Hoshi's going in there," put in Malcolm, who had rushed over to join them when he'd heard Hoshi being dragged into the situation.

Reed didn't look the least bit contrite. "It was the final piece that convinced Kruz I was sincere," he said. "I'd already mentioned her to Kruz. If I hadn't proposed to include her in the deal, he wouldn't have believed me."

* * *

Trip's neck ached terribly where he'd been hit. He'd regained consciousness shortly before Kruz was comm'd by Major Reed. That son of a bitch, he thought. How dare he offer the captain to the Klingons, and toss in Hoshi for himself! Trip was going to rip into whatever was left of Reed after Malcolm got done with him.

He glanced around the cavernous compartment. He and the five members of his staff who'd been on duty when the Klingons had barged in were seated on the deck in a corner of engineering. One of the Klingons was standing guard, staring down at them as if daring them to try something. Crewman Rostov had told him that the Klingons had thrown Reed out but hadn't done anything else. From the little Rostov had been able to tell him, and from what he could see from his vantage point on the deck, Trip realized that the Klingons didn't have total control of the ship.

In a low voice, he asked Rostov, "Why aren't they doing anything?"

"They're waiting for more Klingons to get here," Rostov whispered back, and earned a growl from the watchful guard.

_Just what we need -- more Klingons!_ Trip thought. His mind turned to ways he could rectify the situation. True, he and his staff outnumbered the Klingons six to three, but his men were engineers, not trained security personnel or MACOs, not to mention that the Klingons were a great deal larger than the average human. He caught a glint of reflected light from the barrel of a phase pistol as Kruz moved by a display panel; the Klingons appeared to have only the one weapon, but he and his people had none.

When their guard looked away for a moment, Trip leaned closer to Rostov. "I'm sure the captain and Lieutenant Reed are going to get us out of this. I can't think of any other reason why the captain would willingly give himself up. Keep your eyes open for anything we can do that might help."

Rostov remained silent but, as the guard growled at them once more, nodded his understanding.

* * *

If Hoshi's abrupt summons from the bridge had been startling, the part she was now being asked to play in the plan to retake the ship was downright scary. She was standing with Jon a short distance down the corridor from the MACOs. Nearer to the entrance to engineering were Malcolm and Reed, the latter with that insufferable smirk on his face as he watched her and Jon converse. Hoshi could read Malcolm's anxiety by his posture and jerky movements, although his face betrayed nothing. She wished it would be him going into engineering with them, but according to Jon, Reed would have to unlock the encrypted commands he'd put on the engine controls. At the very least, she could be one more set of eyes to make sure Reed didn't try to switch sides once again.

"Hoshi, I can't force you to do this," Jon said.

Drawing her gaze back to Jon, she said, "I understand, sir, but if I don't do this, the Klingons might not let you in, and then where will we be?" She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Let's do it."

* * *

Malcolm had always prided himself on how well he could handle himself in dangerous situations. This time was no different except for one little thing -- Hoshi was walking into danger without him.

She was being incredibly brave, but having seen her confidence in herself and her abilities grow over the past five years, Malcolm would have expected no less. Even as he admired Hoshi's willingness to do what was needed, however, there was a new, unwelcome depth to the worry he was feeling now, and he puzzled over it as Hoshi, Jon and Reed approached the hatch to engineering. Then he realized what was bothering him -- there were uncountable times when a friend or a fellow officer had put their life on the line, and he'd been concerned for them, but never had it been someone he loved. He wished he'd had a chance to talk to Hoshi about this, but there hadn't been time.

When Reed moved to open the hatch to engineering, it was all Malcolm could do not to run after the group and yank Hoshi back. Then Hoshi turned far enough to be able to look over her shoulder. She caught his eye and, of all things, winked. It was almost as if she knew what he was thinking and was trying to tell him she'd be all right. He did his best not to frown, and he gave her what he hoped was a confident smile in return.

Reed opened the hatch and stepped back. Jon was the first through, followed by Hoshi. Just as Reed went to step over the raised threshold, he paused to stare back. Malcolm couldn't read his expression.

Then the major entered engineering and the hatch was slammed shut, and Malcolm was left alone in the corridor with the MACOs.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's note: Sorry, sorry, sorry. It took me longer to get this chapter done than I'd anticipated. Of course, that's because there's a lot of action in it. It's time to quit messing with it and let you have it. As usual, the reviews are much appreciated.

CHAPTER 15

Hoshi, her heart pounding, followed Jon into engineering. When they stopped a meter or so inside, she took a deep breath to steady herself. The big Klingon, Captain Kruz, was standing next to one of the ladders leading up to the control platform for the warp engine. The Starfleet phase pistol he was holding looked like a toy, but it was no less deadly for being dwarfed by his huge hand.

As Reed stepped in behind them and shut the hatch, Hoshi took a good look around. Another of the Klingons was at the auxiliary console that tied into communications. That same console would be her objective when it came time for her to act. Since Reed had dragged her into this mess, Jon had decided to put her skills to good use, and she'd readily agreed. She just hoped one of Malcolm's diversions enabled her to get past the Klingon standing between her and the panel.

She leaned forward to peer past Jon on her right, and she could see Trip and his engineers seated on the deck in one corner. The third Klingon, his arms crossed over his massive chest, was towering over them. Trip was looking worriedly in their direction, and she knew it was only the menacing presence of the guard that kept him from jumping to his feet.

Hoshi returned her attention to Kruz. He was gazing with deep-set, dark eyes at Jon with an expression that didn't bode well for _Enterprise's _captain. She hoped this plan worked, or Jon's life was forfeit. If that happened, Malcolm wouldn't have to worry about Reed any more -- not after she got done with that despicable, traitorous, sorry son of a--

Her catalog of descriptions was cut short as Reed walked up, threw one of his arms around her shoulders, and pulled her close. She looked up at him coldly; there was no need to pretend that he repulsed her. With a curse in Klingon so that Kruz could understand how much she despised Reed, she very deliberately pushed the offending limb away. Hoshi decided that if Reed put his arm around her again, she'd rip it off. Reed must have seen her intent in her eyes, for he made no further move toward her.

"She insulted you with a name most vile," Kruz said with a rumbling chuckle. "Are you certain you want to take her with you? She has fire. That is an unusual quality in a human."

"I enjoy a challenge," Reed said with a smirk at her.

That answer appeared to amuse the big Klingon. "Perhaps you should leave her here. She speaks Klingon. That could prove interesting."

Jon took a protective step in front of her. "I'm here now. You have no need of the hostages. Let them go. My communications officer, too." His eyes narrowed as he added angrily, "She's not a bargaining chip."

"She most definitely is a bargaining chip, but she's coming with me," Reed said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out from behind Jon.

"Unless I decide to keep her," Kruz put in.

Hoshi yanked her arm free from Reed's grasp. She didn't know who was worse -- Reed or Kruz. They both were acting like she was a piece of property, a thing to fight over. Maybe in Reed's universe women were treated like that, but not here. She welcomed her anger; it would give her strength and courage when the time came to make her move.

She looked around again. They were in one of the few uncluttered areas of engineering. There was a support beam running from the upper bulkhead to the deck a step or two away. It would serve her purpose nicely. She made a mental note of its location.

Reed was saying to Kruz, "I've brought you Captain Archer. My end of the deal is fulfilled. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a shuttlepod waiting for me."

Hoshi's mouth dropped open in surprise as Reed grabbed her by the wrist and started to drag her toward the hatch.

A threatening growl came from Kruz. "Not yet," the Klingon said.

That was exactly what Hoshi had been thinking. A quick exit by Reed wasn't part of the plan. It was crucial that he remove the encryption from the warp controls so that Malcolm could access them from the panel in the corridor. But not only were the bridge and Malcolm denied access at the moment, so was Kruz. Although the Klingons had taken over engineering, Reed was the only one -- thanks to his encryption -- who could access the controls.

As Reed stopped and turned back at Kruz's words, Hoshi realized she'd misjudged his actions as she caught a calculating glint in his eyes. Of course Kruz would expect someone as slimy as Reed to run as soon as possible. He'd had to appear eager to leave. If he'd volunteered to unlock the controls without being prompted, Kruz might have become more suspicious than he already was.

Reed released Hoshi's wrist and moved past Kruz to the ladder. "This will only take a minute," he said.

Kruz waited until Reed had climbed to the platform, then clambered up after him, keeping the pistol trained on Jon as he did. "Do not move," he warned.

"You aren't going to get away with this," Jon called out loudly. "The Xyrillians tried to do it, and we beat them. You won't be able to keep us down, either."

Even all the way across the compartment, Hoshi caught the startled reaction of the group of engineers at the mention of the Xyrillians. Trip in particular was looking at Jon with a strange expression. She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from snickering as she recalled that Trip had had a very personal experience with one Xyrillian, and had wound up pregnant as a result. Now if Trip could only work past that embarrassment and remember that when the Xyrillians had been using _Enterprise's _plasma exhaust to replenish their engine, it had caused all sorts of malfunctions on board.

When Trip's gaze shifted to her, she rocked up on her toes. The chief engineer's quizzical expression instantly vanished. He grasped a handy rail on a panel on the bulkhead behind him, and nudged Rostov next to him to do the same. Within moments, all six engineers had a grip on either an anchored piece of equipment or each other.

On the platform, Kruz was dividing his attention between what Reed was doing at the controls and Jon standing down below on the deck. Apparently Kruz didn't think Hoshi was a threat. His error in judgment, she thought dryly. One advantage of being a woman -- and a woman of relatively small stature, at that -- was that men often underestimated what she could do. For the first time since entering engineering, Hoshi was looking forward to what was about to happen. She only wished Malcolm could be here to see it.

"There," she heard Reed say. "That should do it."

"The bridge can't access the controls?" Kruz asked suspiciously.

Reed turned to face the Klingon with a smirk. "Unfortunately for you, no."

As if his words were a magic incantation, sparks suddenly erupted from the top of the warp engine. Both Reed and Kruz ducked reflexively, but the weapon in the Klingon's hand didn't waver. It was still pointed directly at Jon.

"What did you do?" Kruz bellowed at Reed.

Reed didn't answer as he put one hand up to protect his eyes from a shower of sparks that came cascading over the top of the engine.

Kruz roared out his anger and confusion. At the same moment as he turned to face the controls, Hoshi felt her body become lighter. Before her feet lost contact with the deck, she pushed herself in the direction of the support pole and grabbed it to keep from shooting past as gravity in the engineering compartment failed totally.

She spared a glance for Jon. He'd hooked one foot around the base of the ladder leading to the platform to avoid floating free, and was starting to pull himself up one rung at a time. Above him on the platform, Kruz and Reed were engaged in a grappling match, their weightlessness making the scene surrealistic. The pistol, she was relieved to see, was tumbling end over end away from them.

Trip and his engineers, meanwhile, were hovering close to the deck, each of them having found something to hang on to. Their guard, however, had shot up toward the overhead bulkhead. Like most people caught by surprise when grav plating failed, he had instinctively tensed, and had wound up catapulting himself into the air.

In the few seconds it had taken Hoshi to assess the situation, the remaining Klingon near the auxiliary communications console had regained his equilibrium. He was still between her and the panel. He had been watching the altercation on the warp control platform, but her purposeful movements must have given her away. He turned toward her just as she used both feet to push off from the support pole to launch herself as hard as she could toward him. At the last second, she tucked into a ball and struck the Klingon in his stomach.

Her contact pushed the Klingon back. He bounced off the communications panel and careened away. But Hoshi's momentum had been redirected by the contact. She swallowed, fighting the nausea that threatened to empty her stomach at the feeling of being out of control as she flailed about helplessly. Then her left hand brushed against the underside of the walkway around the upper level of engineering. One shove against that solid surface sent her back on course down to the communications console.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the Klingon coming back to intercept her. Before she could figure out how to deal with that threat, a blur in Starfleet blue came hurtling toward them from another direction. Whoever it was knocked into the Klingon, tumbling him out of her way. She didn't try to stop, but sailed on past the now entangled pair, and caught herself on the edge of the communications panel. A few keystrokes, several buttons pushed, and one relay thrown, and she'd interrupted the homing signal being sent out by the Klingons. For good measure, she added a scrambling signal to disrupt the communications of any other ships in the area.

Her task carried out, she pulled herself around to see what was happening.

* * *

Hand-to-hand fighting wasn't one of the engineering staff's strong points, but the odds were in their favor. Six engineers should be more than enough to subdue one unarmed Klingon, Trip thought. But he had to admit that it was difficult to hold down a person no matter what the odds when the tendency of things in zero g was to go floating off at the slightest push. 

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, Trip thought as he was kneed in the stomach and went spinning head over heels away from the melee. He bumped up against a console but immediately thrust himself back toward the fight. Gravity or no gravity, if he and five of his men couldn't take down one Klingon, he'd never hear the end of it from Malcolm.

* * *

Jon had pulled himself far enough up the ladder to see onto the platform. Reed and Kruz, kept in place against zero g by bracing themselves against the main control console on one side and the railing along the other, were still grappling. The smaller man was holding his own against his bigger opponent as his disadvantage in size was negated somewhat by the lack of gravity. 

With one hand firmly grasping the climbing rail and a foot hooked around a rung, Jon reached out with his free hand and grabbed Kruz's ankle. He couldn't get the leverage he wanted, but one yank was enough to disrupt Kruz's balance. The Klingon lost his grip on Reed and banged against the railing.

Reed, although startled by the sudden release of pressure of Kruz's hands, recovered quickly enough to give the Klingon a shove. Kruz tumbled in slow motion over the railing. Instead of falling to the deck as would happen if gravity had been present, however, he floated off in the direction of the main hatch.

Jon heard Reed mutter under his breath, and then they were both throwing themselves from the platform to follow Kruz.

* * *

This _Enterprise's _captain was quick, Reed had to admit. Archer had taken off in pursuit of the Klingon at the same moment as he had. They had both seen that Kruz had no intention of turning to fight. The Klingon's trajectory had taken him toward the main exit, where he was now struggling in the zero gravity to open the hatch. 

Running wasn't in the nature of Klingons, however, so Reed suspected that Kruz's goal would be to get back to his ship. There was already one Klingon on board their ship; two Klingons on one bird of prey could do a lot of damage to _Enterprise_.

Any shots that might be fired in the ensuing battle between the two ships would further lessen Reed's chances of returning to where he belonged. He wasn't about to let that happen.

* * *

Malcolm could hardly believe what he had seen when he'd opened the hatch at one of the secondary entrances to engineering. He'd known there would be a certain amount of chaos after interrupting the grav plating and starting a relatively harmless but impressive-looking overload in a minor engineering system. Still, the full-out brawl was more than he'd expected. 

There were two areas of fighting that he could see. Trip's men were keeping one Klingon occupied, so his help wasn't needed there. Jon was on his way to assist Reed in his struggle with the Klingon captain on top of the warp engine control platform. Of Hoshi, however, there was no sign. He moved into the compartment carefully, feeling his body become weightless. He quickly pulled himself hand over hand on whatever consoles or pieces of equipment were nearby as he searched for Hoshi. When he rounded the engine, his breath caught in his throat as he saw her ram like a cannonball into the third Klingon's mid-section. His grin at this aerial maneuver faded, however, as he saw the Klingon recover and move back toward Hoshi.

Malcolm aimed himself in that direction and pushed off from a worktable. He shot through the air to slam into the Klingon, hanging onto the man so that both of them were carried out of Hoshi's path. After a brief struggle, Malcolm managed to incapacitate his opponent by knocking his head against the edge of a console several times.

One glance at Hoshi showed she had reached the communications tie-in and was busy at her task. Even as relief that she was unharmed washed over him, he knew he had a more urgent duty. He turned to see how the rest of the crew were doing. Trip's men were still piled on top of their Klingon, but Kruz was trying to get away, although Jon and Reed were bearing down on him. When they reached him, however, Kruz lifted his legs and used his feet to push them away. Jon spun out of control, but Reed snagged the corner of a work table to halt his backward movement.

Before Malcolm could get to the hatch, Kruz had it open and had swung out into the corridor. The sound of a heavy body hitting the deck as it entered an area with gravity, followed by the sizzling discharge of phase rifles, came from the corridor outside.

Malcolm arrived at the hatch at the same time as Reed. Through the opening, Kruz could be seen rolling across the deck. He came up on his feet and ran down the main corridor, miraculously avoiding the MACOs' fire, and disappeared around a curve at the far end.

"He's headed for the transporter," Reed said.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Malcolm said, then called out loudly to the MACOs to hold their fire. He stepped out of engineering, careful of the return to gravity, with Reed on his heels. As the MACO in charge approached, Malcolm ordered with a jerk of his head toward engineering, "McKenzie, get some men in there and help Commander Tucker take care of the last Klingon."

"Sir?" she asked, her gaze flicking down the corridor in the direction Kruz had gone.

Unholstering his phase pistol, Malcolm smiled grimly. "That one's mine," he said, and started off down the corridor.

Recognizing a fellow predator on the hunt, Reed was right behind him. "I'm coming with you."


	16. Chapter 16

Yet another author's note: (grin) Here is the second-to-last chapter. The story kind of got away from me and took on a life of its own. Thank you, everyone, who left reviews. I especially appreciated those who told me that they could follow the zero g fight scene.

CHAPTER 16

Malcolm almost turned around and ordered the MACOs to detain Reed, but he knew his double was as stubborn as he was and would argue. There wasn't time for that. He also realized Reed had as much of a stake as anyone in resolving this situation as quickly as possible. With the arrival of more Klingon ships -- one of which was due only minutes from now -- Reed's chance of returning to his universe would be ruined if the EM fields in the area were disrupted much further by the discharge of energy weapons between ships.

That didn't take into account that _Enterprise _could be severely damaged or even destroyed if a full-scale battle erupted. Malcolm's primary concern was to protect the ship. If that happened to be in Reed's favor, so be it.

Malcolm didn't believe Reed wanted to stay here. His double was as out of place as he himself would be if he'd been transported to Reed's universe. Reed's powerful motivation to stop the Klingons was one of the reasons Malcolm didn't protest when his look-alike followed him from engineering. That didn't mean Malcolm suddenly trusted him. He was glad the man didn't have a phase pistol that could be used to shoot him in the back. But if Reed knew half the martial arts moves Malcolm knew, he could be an asset in subduing Captain Kruz.

Malcolm didn't doubt his own abilities, but the Klingon was one of the largest he had ever seen. He was already regretting his prideful first impulse to take down Kruz by himself. As in many stressful situations, a first decision made in haste wasn't always the best one. There was no time to alter that decision, however; once committed, changing tactics might only prove to be worse.

And so it was that, with Reed right behind him, Malcolm ran down the corridor. They rounded a corner and Malcolm skidded to a halt as the transporter alcove came into view. Kruz should have been visible through the arched opening, but the Klingon wasn't there. Malcolm glanced farther down the corridor in search of where Kruz had gone, and was immediately shoved violently from behind. He crashed to the deck, his elbows taking the brunt of the impact as sharp stabs of pain jolted up to his shoulders, just as a bolt of phased energy split the spot where he'd been standing and carved into the bulkhead. The weapon that had been fired had been set to kill.

Kruz somehow had recovered the phase pistol he'd lost in engineering. Malcolm had seen it tumbling away from the fight on top of the warp engine control platform and, since its trajectory was taking it away from the combatants, had promptly forgotten it as his concern about Hoshi's welfare had taken him elsewhere.

He rolled to the side out of the line of Kruz's fire from the transporter alcove. Across the corridor, Reed did the same. Reed was looking at him curiously, and Malcolm gave him a grudging nod. His double had saved his life with his shove. There was no time to deal with the conflicting emotions Malcolm felt roiling inside him. The man was everything he didn't want to be, and yet he'd have to thank the man later -- if there was a later.

Malcolm realized that Kruz must have been crouched behind the transporter console and had popped up to shoot just as he'd looked away. Malcolm propped himself up on his aching elbows, his own phase pistol steady in his grasp as he took aim, ready to shoot the Klingon when he showed himself again.

"Don't hit the transporter controls," Reed hissed at him.

The words had barely left Reed's mouth when the deck rocked under them. The Klingon ship was maintaining its slow but regular assault. Malcolm saw Reed's face go a shade paler, the bruise below one eye standing out starkly against the white skin. They both knew his chances of returning to his universe had just become smaller.

"We have to get him out of there before that other Klingon ship arrives," Malcolm replied.

"Agreed," Reed said, "but without damaging the transporter. That's my only way back."

Returning his attention to the transporter alcove, Malcolm couldn't keep the smirk from his face. "Believe me, I want you gone just as much as you want to leave."

Another beam of energy from the Klingon made both of them pull their heads down.

"He's a lousy shot," Reed observed.

"He's not familiar with Starfleet weapons," Malcolm said. He began inching his way toward the transporter alcove. He could heard the whisper of Reed's clothing against the deck as he did the same.

"Give me the gun," Reed said in a stage whisper as they crawled along. "I can get off a better shot than you."

Malcolm hesitated. Reed did have a better angle of fire than he did. But despite the man having just saved his life, he still didn't trust him. He wouldn't be surprised if Reed switched sides once again and offered to help Kruz in return for the supposed bargain they'd cooked up to gain access to engineering -- a shuttlepod and Hoshi. Adrenaline already rushing through his system, Malcolm fought to stay focused as renewed anger at Reed's impersonation of him with Hoshi tempted him to turn the gun on his double.

He could hear Kruz fumbling around behind the transporter controls, but he couldn't see anything from his vantage point. Most likely Kruz was attempting to input the coordinates that would send him back to his ship. The Klingon would be exposed, however, when he came out from behind the control pedestal to get to the transporter pad.

"We don't have much time!" Reed said. "Do you want me here for the rest of our lives?"

The barely veiled desperation in Reed's voice almost convinced Malcolm, but it was the backhanded threat that decided him. He most definitely did not want Reed here for any longer than necessary. He checked that the setting on his pistol was on stun. Placing the weapon on the deck, he gave it a shove in Reed's direction. Reed's hand shot out and grabbed it as it slid by. Malcolm saw him give the weapon a cursory glance before he grasped it in one hand, his other hand clamped around that wrist to add stability.

"We can't afford to wait," Reed said as he sighted down the barrel. "Draw him out."

Malcolm stared in disbelief at the man. He'd just given Reed their only weapon, and now Reed wanted him to play decoy? He wracked his brain but couldn't come up with a better idea. All the while, he was aware they were running out of time. If _Enterprise _wasn't totally secured by the time the other Klingon ship arrived, there was no telling how things would turn out. Kruz might even be able to help other Klingons transport aboard _Enterprise_.

Malcolm grimaced as he tensed in preparation for getting to his feet and rushing the transporter alcove. This had to be one of the stupidest things he'd ever done. Under any other circumstances he would have refused to do it. But not only was there no time to wait the Klingon out, he didn't want to lose the one opportunity to be rid of Reed once and forever. He gathered himself to rush the opening, and hoped Kruz's phase pistol was set on stun.

The moment Malcolm got to his feet, the deck rocked again with the impact of weapons' fire from the Klingon ship. Thrown off balance, he staggered as the deck continued to heave. His instincts as a tactical officer told him that the Klingon ship had increased the strength of its shots, even as he saw Kruz rise up from behind the control pedestal and stumble toward the transporter pad. The whine of the engaged transporter system was unmistakable; Kruz had succeeded in inputting his ship's coordinates. Malcolm called out his name, but it didn't distract Kruz in the least. The Klingon was intent on reaching the pad.

What did halt the Klingon was a shot from Reed's phase pistol. It missed Kruz, but made him turn around with an angry scowl. Spotting Malcolm, he lifted his own gun and aimed. Malcolm threw himself down behind the transporter control pedestal, the only available cover. He slammed hard up against the unyielding metal as Kruz's shot went high.

_Enterprise _gave one last shake, tossing Reed into the alcove's opening. The pistol flew from his hand as he rammed against the archway's frame. Kruz growled trimphantly as he took aim at this new target.

Hunkered down behind the transporter controls, Malcolm saw Reed's vulnerable position and heard Kruz's growl. Without thinking, he jumped up and threw himself at Kruz, knocking into the Klingon's arm and ruining his shot at Reed. He'd hit Kruz hard, and both of them were pitched to the deck. A second later, another body piled on top the Klingon.

Kruz's eyes went wide as he stopped struggling to look from one to the other of his attackers in disbelief. "Two of you?" he roared.

Malcolm didn't dare release his hold on Kruz in case the Klingon decided to resume fighting. He was wondering how he was going to call for backup when, from the corner of his eye he saw that Reed was holding a phase pistol, the business end of which he shoved under Kruz's chin.

Reed didn't say anything. He indicated with a jerk of his head that Malcolm should move back. Malcolm cautiously stood and backed over to the transporter controls, keeping his eyes on the pair the entire time. Reed was slowly edging away from the Klingon. By the time Malcolm had shut down the transporter, Reed was standing, the pistol still pointed at Kruz lying on the deck.

Reed shook his head and sighed. "You're just too much trouble," he said, and squeezed the trigger.

Kruz jerked as the phased energy beam struck him and lapsed into unconsciousness. Reed turned toward Malcolm, whose breath caught in his throat. They'd worked well together, but that didn't mean Reed wouldn't turn on him.

Then Reed flipped the pistol so that he was holding it by the barrel and, with a sardonic glint in his eyes, offered it to Malcolm.

"Now that that's taken care of," Reed said, "let's get me out of here."


	17. Chapter 17

Author's note: Ta-da! Final chapter is finally done. Have fun!

CHAPTER 17

Reed paced the transporter alcove. All his scheming had come to nothing. He had to get back to his universe within the next several minutes or he'd never return at all.

He wouldn't be in possession of this ship for a triumphant return that would grant him more power than he'd ever imagined possible. He wouldn't have a shuttlepod, a mere trophy compared to the status this ship would have given him, but proof that he'd been to an alternate universe. He wouldn't even have the enticing Hoshi Sato with him.

The only thing he was taking back was the knowledge that there was at least one parallel universe that existed and that the people who inhabited it, while naive and too bloody trusting, worked together toward common goals for the betterment of all -- even at the risk of their own lives.

It was an alien and sobering thought, one that had troubled him as he'd rushed to his quarters, changed into the uniform he'd been wearing when he'd arrived, and hurried back to the transporter alcove. All right, so the people here didn't _entirely _trust him -- a pair of armed MACOs had accompanied him to his cabin and back -- but he couldn't blame them. If someone had shown up on the _ISS Enterprise _and had pulled half the stunts he had, Reed would have disposed of him long before this.

Much as he didn't want to admit it, he was tempted to remain. There were things in this universe that were appealing, things he hadn't believed possible, especially in his line of work. Friendship, for one thing, and true loyalty, not the kind built on fear and ambition. But he was also a realist, and he knew that if he stayed, he'd have to be punished for his trangressions against this ship and its crew. He'd rather be dead than spend years of his life locked up like a caged animal. Still, the need not to constantly look over one's shoulder, not to wonder who was plotting against you, not to always be on guard, was as seductive in its own way as was the lure of power and control in his universe.

Angry and upset by his thoughts, Reed strode over to the archway leading to the corridor and peered out between the two MACOs stationed there. The corridor was empty. He whirled back toward his double. "What's the delay?" he asked irritably.

From the transporter control console, Malcolm answered calmly, "Commander T'Pol has to set up part of the transfer procedure with Commander Tucker in engineering, and Captain Archer said he needed something from the armory."

Reed shot a quizzical glance at Malcolm, but no further information was forthcoming. The three Klingons had been put in the brig; the fourth was still on their ship and taking potshots at _Enterprise_. Unless Captain Archer thought the next Klingon ship to arrive would send over boarding parties, there was no need for him to visit the armory to arm himself. He shook his head. It was inconceivable to him that these people didn't carry personal weapons as a matter of course. They wouldn't last more than ten minutes in his universe.

The sound of approaching footsteps carried down the corridor to the alcove just as the deck rocked once more. Reed had to grab the frame of the archway to keep his footing.

"Down to forty-two percent," Malcolm intoned.

"Would you stop that!" Reed demanded. "I know just as well as you what my chances are."

Malcolm smirked. Reed realized the man was enjoying taunting him. It seemed rather petty, but with a start, Reed realized it was exactly what he would be doing if their positions were reversed. Maybe he was rubbing off on his double, but something in Malcolm's implacable expression made him doubt that was the case. There was a deeper resentment on his double's part. He wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with his impersonation of Malcolm in regard to the one object of both their desires -- Hoshi Sato.

Captain Archer strode into the alcove. Reed's gaze was immediately drawn to what the man was holding. It was his own rifle, the one he'd been carrying when he'd been transported aboard this ship. Hanging over the captain's shoulder was a carry-all bag. Reed was willing to bet the rest of his equipment was in it.

"You ought to take back everything you brought with you," Archer said, confirming Reed's surmise as he handed over the rifle. "Like your uniform, it might make your return among your shipmates easier."

Luckily, his homing beacon was still among his equipment. He could see its shiny surface poking out the opening of the bag. If he was returned to the planet in his universe and the _ISS Enterprise_ had left the vicinity -- and there was no reason to believe his captain would have searched very long for him -- the beacon would alert the ship to his location. In the meantime, he'd have to rely on his survival skills on the uninhabited planet, but he had no doubt that was a challenge he could meet.

Reed glanced over at Malcolm, wondering how he'd react to his captain giving the weapons back. He was amused but not surprised to see the man had his hand on his own pistol where it was holstered at his hip. Reed took the bag from Archer without a word and quickly pulled out the items inside, attaching them to his belt or putting them in the pockets of his uniform. That done, he stood there for a moment, savoring the reassuring, finely balanced weight of his phase rifle in his hands. For the first time since he'd woken up in sickbay on this ship, Reed felt totally in control.

"I expect you to be gone by the time I get to the bridge," Archer said tersely.

Reed looked at Archer. He couldn't read the other man's carefully neutral expression. No doubt Archer would be as glad to get rid of him as he would be to leave. When Reed made his way to the transporter platform and stepped up on to the pad, he heard Archer issue one last order to Malcolm.

"As soon as Major Reed is gone, have security bring the Klingons here to be transported to their ship."

* * *

Hoshi should have returned to the bridge after engineering was secured. She had in fact already directed the turbolift to take her there before she changed her mind. She gave in to her irrational impulse and changed the turbolift's destination.

She glanced down at herself and grimaced. Events had unfolded so quickly that she was still wearing her red blouse, slacks and sneakers. Was it only a few short hours ago that Malcolm had come by her cabin? So much for her romantic evening, she thought with a frown.

The turbolift door slid open and she stepped out, the sound of her footsteps much quieter than would have been the case had she been wearing her uniform boots. As she padded toward the transporter alcove, Jon strode out and turned in her direction. She stopped, certain he'd want to know why she was here when she should have been at her station on the bridge.

"Hoshi," he said as he breezed by her. "You'll be needed on the bridge as soon as he's gone. Make sure it's the right one who gets transported."

Hoshi's jaw dropped as she stared after him. Was that a joke? He hadn't even asked why she was here. But she was relieved that Jon hadn't questioned her about her presence in the corridor outside the transporter alcove. She wasn't sure she could accurately articulate her reasons. She only knew that she had to see Major Reed leave with her own two eyes. Otherwise, she knew that every time she saw Malcolm, she'd wonder if it really was him. That wasn't something she wanted to try to explain to Jon.

One of the MACOs stationed outside the transporter alcove acknowledged her arrival with a nod. She stepped around him to peer into the alcove, and spotted Reed on the transporter platform. Even though she despised the man, she still felt a stir of attraction whenever she saw him. In his universe, he _was _Malcolm, the man she loved here. An unbidden thought flitted through her mind. What would it be like to be the Hoshi Sato of his universe?

* * *

Malcolm caught a flash of red from the corner of his eye. His anticipation of Reed's departure was marred by Hoshi's arrival. There was no reason for her to be here. Did she want to tell Reed goodbye? A fresh upsurge of jealousy made Malcolm shift uncomfortably, but he held his tongue, unwilling to say anything in front of Reed.

Reed had seen her, too. "Come to see me off, luv?" he called out cockily from the transporter platform.

Hoshi stepped into the alcove and walked over to stand next to Malcolm at the controls. "Something like that," she said, adding coolly, "And don't call me 'luv'."

Reed laughed. "You could come with me, you know."

Malcolm felt Hoshi tense beside him. She wouldn't go with Reed. She couldn't. She'd be insane to even think about it. As the silence dragged out, Malcolm began to wonder if she was actually considering it.

"I don't think so," she responded at last. Then she turned to Malcolm and asked, "What are we waiting for?"

The comm panel beeped.

"That," Malcolm said simply and opened the channel.

_"We're ready on this end,"_ came Trip's voice.

"It's about time," Reed muttered from the platform, gripping his phase rifle more tightly.

Malcolm didn't bother to react to his counterpart's comment as T'Pol's voice came over the comm speaker. _"The intensity of the storm on the planet has peaked and is beginning to drop. We must transport Major Reed now if we are to bridge the two universes."_

"Understood," Malcolm replied. He began working the levers to send Reed on his way. The transporter was locked onto coordinates in the very heart of the storm on the planet. "Engaging transporter particle stream EM field."

The hum of the transport in operation filled the alcove. Both Malcolm and Hoshi watched as the shimmering effect began, dissolving Reed's body before their eyes. At the last moment, Reed looked directly at his double. The last thing Malcolm saw as Reed disappeared was the man's sardonic, superior smirk.

Its transfer complete, the transporter shut off. Malcolm released a long gust of air; he hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath.

"You think he made it?" Hoshi asked softly from beside him.

"I hope so," Malcolm said and frowned. "Otherwise, he might show up around here again. Then I'd have to have the word 'enchiladas' tattooed on my arm so you can tell us apart."

Hoshi laughed and bounced on the balls of her feet. Malcolm, hearing her laugh, couldn't help but smile. He felt as if an unseen burden had been lifted from him. He reached over to open a new channel on the comm system to tell his security staff to bring the Klingons to the transporter alcove.

* * *

Trip winced as he chewed. There was nothing wrong with Chef's roast beef; it was as tender and tasty as usual. No, the problem was his jaw. Doctor Phlox said it was only bruised, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. At some point in the fight to retake engineering, he'd gotten kicked in the face -- by one of his own men! He carefully rubbed his jaw. He ought to talk to Malcolm. Some extra training in hand-to-hand combat wouldn't be a bad idea for his department.

He glanced up as the door to the mess hall slid open and saw Hoshi step in, followed by Malcolm. As he watched them go through the serving line, something about them seemed...off. For one thing, he thought Malcolm was standing a little closer to Hoshi than was necessary. Then, to his astonishment, he saw Malcolm's hand go out and gently brush a stray strand of hair from Hoshi's cheek and tuck it behind her ear. It was a small gesture, but so unlike Malcolm that it was akin to a warp core breach. A smile spread slowly across Trip's face as it suddenly hit him who Hoshi's mystery distraction had been on movie night.

When the pair turned away from the serving line, Trip waved to get their attention. His gaze went back and forth between Malcolm and Hoshi as they sat down at his table. "Well?" he asked with a grin.

Malcolm appeared oblivious to the undertone of that one word, but Hoshi, bless her heart, picked right up on it. A slight blush spread over her cheeks.

"Guess you won't be coming to the next movie night, huh?" Trip asked.

Malcolm, fork already in hand, asked, "What's the movie?"

"I don't know yet," Trip replied. "I let Hoshi pick out the last one, and she didn't stay around to watch it."

Trip watched as Malcolm and Hoshi looked at each other, a deeper blush stealing up the communications officer's face. Trip wondered what exactly had happened that night. Chances were that he'd never know, but that wouldn't keep him from trying to find out.

Hoshi looked at Trip and cleared her throat. "Is everything okay now in engineering?"

Trip smiled at her attempt to change the subject. "Just peachy. Malcolm's little pyrotechnical display didn't do any real damage. We were able to warp out of the area in plenty of time to avoid that other Klingon bird of prey."

Trip lapsed into silence, allowing Hoshi and Malcolm to eat in peace. He picked up his cup and swirled the coffee around as he watched them over the rim. Malcolm in particular looked more relaxed than he'd been in a long time. He'd been uptight ever since Major Reed had come on board.

"Bet you're glad he's gone," Trip said.

Malcolm, who'd been plowing through his roast beef and mashed potatoes like he hadn't eaten in days, paused to look at him. "You have no idea."

Trip could tell when Malcolm was getting riled up, and the hard glint in Malcolm's eyes didn't bode well for him if he continued with the subject of Major Reed. Instead, he returned to the previous topic. "So, if you two want to...make a date of it...I could pick out a nice, romantic film for movie night."

Hoshi and Malcolm looked at each other, and Trip could almost sense the silent communication flowing between them. Then both pairs of eyes were turned on him.

"I don't think so," Malcolm said smugly. "Hoshi's got a hot plate in her cabin, and she's offered to make some enchiladas for me."

-- the end --


End file.
